••I 


...  . 


THE 


JEWISH  ARMOURY, 

BY 

I.    L.    MOCATTA, 

Author  of  "Moral  Biblical  Gleanings." 


Psalm  gi,  v.  4. — "  The  truth  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy 
shield  and  buckler." 

Psalm    ug,  v.  8g. — "  For   ever,    O   Lord,   thy  word   is 
settled  in  Heaven. 


NOT     PUBLISHED. 


1877. 


BRIGHTON  : 


PRINTED  BY  CL-RTIS  BROS.  AND  TOWNER, 
150,  NORTH  STREET  BRIGHTON. 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 
PREFACE .  V. 

CHAP.  I. — Four  important  words  in  connection  with 
Judaism— ONE— EVERLASTING— TRUE 
—PERFECT i—  23 

II. — The  Divine  laws  and  ordinances  inculcated  in 
the  Mosaic  dispensation,  which  are  pre- 
eminently distinguislied  for  their  sublime 
morality  and  practical  utility 24 —  56 

III. —  A  review  of  sundry  Mosaic  laws  and  ordinances, 
such  as  need  close  investigation  to  enable 
the  cursory  reader  of  the  Sacred  Volume  to 
arrive  at  a  full  conviction  of  their  supreme 
excellence  57 —  85 

IV. — On  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul  as  an  article  of 
Jewish  belief,  practically  and  inferentially 
demonstrated  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  re- 
peatedly referred  to  in  other  portions  of  the 
Sacred  Volume  , 86-98 

V. — Short  biographical  sketches  from  Sacred  and 
Profane  History,  proving  to  demonstiation 
the  efficacy  of  the  Mosaic  code  of  laws  upon 
individual  character  99—135 

VI. —  Extracts  from  the  writings  of  some  of  the  most 
enlightened  men  in  Christendom  showing 
that  the  Jewish  belief  in  the  Unity  of  God 
coincides  with  their  own  convictions ;  that 
in  the  main  they  admit  the  Mosaic  code  to 
be  alike  practical  and  useful ;  that  they 
highly  appreciate  many  traits  peculiar  to  the 
Hebrew  race ;  finally,  extracts  from  works 
written  by  Jewish  authors  on  their  own 
national  characteristics  and  social  position..  136 — 179 


PREFACE. 


THE  Jewish  Association  for  the  diffusion  of  Religious 
Knowledge  thus  concludes  one  of  its  latest  Reports, — 
"The  many  influences  which  are  at  work  in  this  present 
age  of  materalism,  when  all  religions  are  being  subject  to 
the  severest  tests  and  trials,  render  it  necessary  that  we 
should  endeavour  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  followers 
of  our  Holy  Faith — the  first  as  well  as  foundation  of  all 
revealed  religion — weapons  with  which  to  combat  the 
attacks  from  without,  and  even  from  within.  This  can 
only  be  effected  by  the  dissemination  amongst  our  co- 
religionists of  a  clear  and  correct  knowledge  of  Judaism 
and  its  observances." 

With  the  above  quotation  vividly  impressed  on  his 
mind,  the  writer  takes  up  his  pen  earnest  in  the  furtherance 
of  a  like  object,  and,  as  he  does  so  with  extreme  diffidence 
he  trusts  that  no  presumption  will  be  imputed  to  him, 
either  in  regard  to  the  title  he  has  chosen,  or  to  the 
assurance  he  has  displayed  in  following  in  the  wake  of 
an  association,  which  has  already  achieved  so  much,  and 
justly  gained  the  attention  and  high  consideration  of  the 
entire  Jewish  community. 

Before  proceeding  to  offer  a  few  remarks  regarding 
the  main  purport  of  these  pages,  the  author  would  be  per- 


yi.  Preface. 

mitted  to  make  some  slight  reference  to  his  last  religious 
work,  viz,  "MORAL  BIBLICAL  GLEANINGS,"  indeed, 
both  books  have  this  common  object,  to  concentrate  and 
bring  into  relief  all  that  is  most  valuable  and  instructive 
in  the  Holy  volume.  In  the  "  Gleanings  "  are  to  be  found, 
under  especial  headings,  a  variety  of  practical  precepts 
with  a  short  biography  of  numerous  Israelites  of  old,  who, 
considering  those  precepts  their  best  heirloom,  strove 
sedulously  to  practice  and  follow  them  out,  and  having 
succeeded  therein,  left  us  a  legacy  of  imperishable  names, 
names  which  adorn  the  annals  of  History,  and  will  ever 
be  admired  and  revered  by  all  of  every  sect  or  creed,  who 
can  appreciate  true  merit  and  agree  to  stamp  the 
character  of  man  according  to  its  moral  excellence. 

In  the  present  little  volume  the  author  has  for  object  to 
bring  before  his  co-religionists  an  epitome  of  the  very 
many  facts  and  arguments  which  have  tended  to  give 
strength  and  permanency  to  the  Jewish  faith,  besides  other 
data,  avoiding  all  that  is  discursive  ;  and  by  thus  bringing 
them  together  in  the  most  compact  form  possible,  he 
trusts  good  service  will  be  rendered  to  the  cause  of 
religion,  and  that  these  pages  will  meet  the  wishes  of  those 
persons  who,  lacking  either  time  or  inclination  to  peruse 
long  controversial  works,  are,  nevertheless,  desirous  of 
having  placed  before  them  a  fair  exposition  of  Judaism 
and  its  Laws,  whilst  it  will  enable  the  enlightened  Christian 
to  cast  a  thoughtful  and  appreciative  glance  over  a  sum- 
mary of  those  numerous  beautiful  ordinances  and  holy 
truths  which  have  given,  and  will  assuredly  continue 
to  give,  life,  stability,  and  lasting  vitality  to  the  religion 
of  the  Israelite. 


Preface.  vii. 

As  a  book  entitled  "The  Jewish  Armoury"  may  be 
deemed  incomplete  by  some  readers  without  it  contains 
especial  reference  to  the  views  expounded  by  David  and 
the  teachings  of  the  Prophets,  it  will  be  well  to  state  here 
that  the  writer  had  proposed  concluding  this  volume  with 
two  chapters  devoted  thereto,  and  it  is  solely  on  account 
of  enfeebled  health  that  he  foregoes  his  original  inten- 
tion. The  enforced  curtailment  of  this  work  would  have 
proved  a  source  of  greater  regret  to  its  author  had  he  not 
been  impressed  with  the  belief  that  any  additional  strength 
imparted  to  Judaism  through  the  Psalms  and  the  Books  of 
the  Prophets  is  mostly,  if  not  solely,  due  to  the  fact  that 
their  writers,  true  to  the  ancestral  faith,  undeviatingly 
upheld  the  Mosaic  code  and  demonstrated  in  the  most  im- 
passioned language  how  greatly  they  appreciated  each 
precept,  each  ordinance  contained  therein.  The  teach- 
ings of  these  chosen  servants  of  God  are  simply  supple- 
mentary, and  though  of  inestimable  value  in  themselves, 
cannot  dwarf  in  the  slightest  degree  the  mighty  structure 
of  Mosaism. 

But  could  it  by  possibility  be  conceded  that  some  feu> 
verses  both  in  the  Psalms  and  in  the  Prophets  militated 
against  the  doctrines  and  laws  set  forth  by  the  great  Law 
giver,  yet  on  how  slender  a  thread  do  they  hang  when 
weighed  with  the  mass  cf  evidence  that  can  be  brought 
forth  against  any  such  construction,  and  even  these 
selected  verses  utterly  lose  their  assumed  significance  in 
the  minds  of  the  unprejudiced  when  they  reflect  on  the 
fact  that  these  props  to  another  creed  have,  in  nearly 
every  instance,  been  wrested  from  their  true  meaning, 
their  true  intent,  through  a  strange  perversion  and  an  un- 


viii.  Preface. 

doubted  mistranslation  from  the  original  language. 
Nevertheless,  as  Judaism  has  been  assailed  at  various 
epochs  through  the  mistaken  or  ill-directed  zeal  of  many 
a  novice  in  Hebrew  literature,  it  is  fortunate  that  there 
are  some  valuable  Jewish  works  on  the  subject  of  these 
controversial  verses,  and  the  author  believes  that  it  will  be 
opportune  here  to  draw  the  attention  of  his  readers  to 
three  books  of  sterling  merit,  wherein  are  to  be  found 
the  most  undeniable  proofs  that  these  isolated  and  mis- 
translated verses,  so  well  calculated  to  mislead,  are  easily 
refuted  and  altogether  fail  to  weaken  or  undermine  a 
religion  which  has  survived  repeated  attacks  during  long 
centuries.  The  names  of  these  valuable  works  are,  istly, 
"FAITH  STRENGTHENED,"  translated  from  the 
Hebrew  by  the  revered  Mr.  Moses  Mocatta ;  2ndly, 
"  A  COURSE  OF  SERMONS  "  by  Dr.  Hermann  Acller, 
3rdly,  "THE  DEICIDES"  by  J.  Cohen,  translated  from 
the  French  by  Miss  Anna  Maria  Goldsmid. 

In  conclusion,  the  author,  while  expressing  the  hope 
that  some  allowance  will  be  made  for  any  shortcomings 
in  this  work,  is  yet  sanguine  enough  to  believe  that  it  will 
in  a  measure  subserve  the  object,  the  intent  which  first 
gave  it  birth  and  then  quickened  it  into  existence. 

BRIGHTON, 

NOVEMBER,  1877. 


THE  JEWISH  ARMOURY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

i 

There  are  four  words  of  superlative  impor- 
tance when  taken  in  connection  with  the  Jewish 
religion,  and  indeed  it  would  be  impossible  to 
overrate  their  rare  significance  to  the  Jew,  since 
on  them  is  based  the  whole  structure  of  his 
sublime  and  venerable  faith  ;  we  allude  to  the 

words,  ONE.  EVERLASTING,  TRUE,  PERFECT. 

Now,    it    might    well    be   supposed,   that   no 
amount  of  ingenuity  could  pervert  these  simple, 
yet  all  comprehensive  words  from  their  obvious 
meanings,  but  since  they  are,  nevertheless,  often 
distorted  or  wrenched  from  their  original  signi-     / 
fication,  it  may  be  well  to  direct  our  attention 
to  these  symbols  of  the    Israelitish  creed,  and    » 
endeavour  to  show  that  the  Jews  cannot  by  any 
possibility  interpret  them  otherwise  than  have 

their  forefathers  throughout  past  centuries  ;  but, 

E  V 


The  Jeiuish  Armoury. 


holding  them  to  be  the  most  unequivocal  words 
to  be  found  in  the  Holy  volume,  they  will 
assuredly  continue  to  make  them  a  standpoint, 
so  long  as  language  is  capable  of  conveying 
definite,  accurate,  and  distinct  ideas  to  the  human 
mind. 

Referring,  firstly,  to  the  UNITY  of  God, 
represented  by  the  word  "  One,"  which  is  again 
and  again  repeated  throughout  the  Scriptures  in 
reference  to  the  Deity, — it  would  seem  incredible 
that  any  question  could  possibly  be  raised  as  to 

,  the  precise  sense  intended  to  be  conveyed 
through  it,  and  the  more  so,  because  frequently 
found  in  conjunction  with  the  most  distinct,_the 
most  emphatic  negation  of  Divine  plurality.  ; 

f  nevertheless,  the  absolute  Unity  of  God, — the 
fundamental,  the  vital  principle  of  Judaism,  and 
treasured  as  such  by  all  Israelites  throughout 
their  long  chequered  history, — is  most  certainly 
not  regarded  under  the  same  point  of  view  by 

/those    who    believe    in    the   Trinity.       It   may, 

I  therefore,  be  well  to  cull  some  all  important 
verses  from  the  Sacred  volume,  and  show  the 
grounds  whereon  the  Jew  holds  so  tenaciously 

f  to  this  conviction,  as  also  the  authority  whereon 
he  bases  his  implicit,  his  undying  belief. 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


The  first  commandment  of  that  Decalogue, 
which  was  delivered  direct  from  Heaven  to  the 
Jewish  nation,  and  has  ever  been  held  in  high 
reverence  by  those  of  a  different  creed,  opens 
with  the  personal  pronoun  of  the  singular  §  l 
number,  "  I,"  which  in  no  one  instance,  when  / 

i  " 

applied  to  mortals,  has  served  to  convey  the 
idea  of  plurality.  This  monosyllable,  then,  being 
universally  symbolic  of  unity,  of  oneness,  cannot 
in  fairness  be  wrested  from  its  general  signifi- 
cation when  applied  to  the  Deity,  particularly 
since  it  is  often  coupled  with  some  such  negation 
to  plurality  as  gives  it  even  additional  force ;  for 
-example,  "  I,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  am  the  first 
and  the  last,  and  besides  me  there  is  no  God" 
And  again  we  find  this  solemn  declaration :  Hosea 
13,  v.  iv,  "  Lam  the  Lord  thy  God,  thou  shalt 
know  no  God  but  me,  for  there  is  no  Saviour^ 
besides  nie  "  ;  also,  "  I  am  God,  there  is  no  other, 
.and  my  glory  will  /  nnt  (rJ7i/>  fy  n.nntli.pv" — a 
sentence  which  of  itself  bears  the  imprint  of 
Omniscience,  a  foreknowledge  of  what  was  to 
occur  long  centuries  after,  as  indeed  does  also 
the  following  verse,  Is.  ch.  43,  v.  xi.,  "  /,  even 
I  am  the  Lord,  and  beside  ME  there  is  no 
.Saviour_"  \  in  which  quotation  it  is  notable  that 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


the  singular  number  is  twice  repeated,  as  also 
when  the  Lord  proclaimed,  Deut.  ch.  32,  v. 
xxxix,  "  I  am  He,  and  there  is  no  God  with  me" 
or  again,  Is.  ch.  43,  v.  xxv.,  "  I,  even  I,  am  He 
who  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions."  It  is. 
further  deserving  of  notice  that  to  the  letter 
"  I "  is  frequently  affixed  the  all  important, 
because  unequivocal  monosyllable  "  One,"  as  for 
example,  Is.  ch.  60,  v.  xvi,  "J.^  the  Lord,  am 
thy  Saviour,  thy  Redeemer,  the  mighty  Ow  of 
Israel."  Also  the  forcible  words  "  only "  and 
"  alone."  adding  thereby  fresh  significance,  and, 
it  might  be  thought,  precluding  the  possibility 
of  attaching  to  it  a  plural  meaning ;  indeed,  had 
we  solely  the  heaven-sent  article  of  belief,  "  I, 
the  Lord  thy  God  am  One  God,"  it  would 
surely  suffice  to  fix  this  truth  indelibly  in  the 
heart.  Then  again,  the  proof  of  this  first 
personal  pronoun  being  intended  to  represent 
unity  in  the  Godhead  may  be  found  in  the  fact 
of  its  being  so  frequently  coupled  with  words 
of  deepest  import,  viz.,  "  the  Eternal,"  "  the 
King,"  "Jehovah,"  the  latter  especially  being  a 
name  which  certainly  conveys  a  distinct  idea  of 
individuality  to  the  human  mind,  and  when 
regarded  as  the  Hebrew  equivalent  to  the 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


sacred  appellation,  "  I  AM,"  carries  with  it  a 
hallowed  sense  of  that  Divine  essence  which 
knows  no  subdivision,  no  plurality.  It  may 
here  also  be  observed  that  the  singular  pronoun, 
"  Thou,"  is  always  used  in  the  Pentateuch,  the 
Psalms,  and  the  Prophets,  when  reference  is 
made  to  the  Deity  ;  as  for  example,  "  Thou, 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel,"  "  Thou,  the  Most 
High,  will  judge  his  people." 

It  may,  however,  be  advanced  that  the 
pronoun  "  We  "  is  occasionally  employed  in  the 
Old  Testament  when  referring  to  the  Supreme, 
yet  surely  no  proof^  of  plurality  is  hereby 
afforded,  since  this  monosyllable  is  used  in  most 
languages  in  lieu  of  the  singular  form  when  the 
object  is  to  intensify  authority,  or  give  force  of 
utterance,  as  in  the  case  of  a  Monarch  on 
issuing  a  decree,  or  an  author  when  seeking  to 
be  especially  impressive.  Nor  may  we  over-  f/jS* 
look  the  use  of  the  word  "  Elohim,"  which, 


,    .         11.      •    „•        •  ,    , 

having  a  plural  termination,,  might  be  ojpen  to         -     . 
misconception,  were  it  not  frequently  employed^**  **%* 
also  in  reference  to  a  messenger  of  God,  or  to 
some  human  authority,  as,  for  instance,  we  find 
Manoch  exclaiming  after  he  had  perceived  "  an 
angel  of  the  Lord,"  "  we  shall  surely  die,  for  we 


flJL 


The  Jewish  Armortry. 


'have  seen  Elohim.' '  And  still  more  to  the 
point  are  the  words  of  God  Himself  to  Moses  ; 
Ex.  ch.  7,  v.  i.,  "  Behold,  I  have  made  thee  an 
Elohim  to  Pharaoh,"  which,  of  itself,  might 
amply  suffice  to  prove  that  the  expression 
"  Elohim,"  like  the  pronoun  "  We,"  is  used  to 
signify  authority  in  the  individual,  since  here  it 
is  indubitable  that  Moses  alone  is  alluded  to. 
|6«M&pCf  Furthermore,  the  pure  spirituality  of  the  Deity 
••'  '  is  clearly  inculcated  by  the  Lawgiver  when 
addressing  the  multitudes  who  had  been  eye 
witnesses  of  the  delivery  of  the  Law  at  Mount 
Sinai,  he  says:  Deut.  ch.  4,  v.  xv.,  "Take  ye 
therefore  good  heed  unto  yourselves  ;  for  ye  saw 
no  manner  of  similitude  on  the  day  that  the 
Lord  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  fire  :  lest  ye  corrupt  yourselves  and 
make  you  a  graven  image,  the  similitude  of  any 
figure,  the  likeness  of  male  or  female." 
rfo  Once  let  us  permit  ourselves  to  conceive 

either  plurality  or  materialism  hrsjie  Supreme, 
and  wre  have  but  too  surely  dwarf 'in  our  minds 
the  Great  Lord  of  all,  which  fact  doubtless 
caused  Moses,  not  only  to  prohibit  the  people 
under  various  penalties  from  setting  up  graven 
images,  but  also  led  him  to  proclaim  again  and 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


again  the  incorporeality  and  invisibility  of  the 

God  of  Israel.  (/    /^ 

The  glorious  truth  of  the  Unity  of  the  Deity  # 
has  for  long  centuries  been  cherished  and  up-  / 
held  by  the   Hebrew  as  the   fundamental  prin- 
ciple, the  very  keystone  of  his  faith  ;  the  words 
in   Deut.  ch.   6,   v.   iv.  :  "  Hear,   O   Israel,   the 
Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is   ONE,"   first  lisped 
in  earliest  childhood,  never  cease  to  form  the 
daily  prayer  of  each  devout  Jew  till  that  final 
hour  arrives,  when,  in  heartfelt  and  pious  accents, 
he  seals  this  life-long  conviction,  by  their  utter- 
ance with  his  latest  breath.       Truly  this  grand 
and   solemn  article  of  belief,  the  heaven-given 
heirloom  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Unity  of  the 
Godhead,  can  never  be  lost  to  the   House  of          > 
Israel    or   remain    indefinitely  obscured  to  the  '" 
world  so  long  as  the  Jew  is  true  to  himself, 
his  children,  and  to  his  God.* 

Proceeding  next  to  consider  the  word  "Ever- 
lasting  "  in  connection  with  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation, which,  although  a  word  of  itself,  amply 

*  At  chap.  5  will  be  found  the  views  of  many  enlightened  Christians 
on  this  all  important  doctrine,  coinciding  most  remarkably  with  this 
primary  article  of  the  Jewish  faith.  Surely  it  is  to  the  belief  of  the 
oneness  and  pure  spirituality  oi  the  Deity  that  we  must  ascribe  the 
following  sublime  idea  of  the  great  Unitarian  philosopher,  Sir  Isa^c 
Newton  :  "  His  centre  is  everywhere,~His  circumference  nowhere." 


8  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

demonstrates  that  the  Law  given  by  God 
through  Moses  was  to  endure  to  all  times,  we 
yet  rind  that  though  frequently  repeated  in 
various  portions  of  Scripture,  it  is  further 
supplemented  by  many  hardly  less  positive 
affirmations  of  permanent  duration  in  such  ex- 
pressions- as  these,  "  always,"  "  for  ever  and 
ever,"  "  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,"  "  to 
all  generations."  For  example,  we  find  in 
Is.  ch.  24,  v.  v..  The  earth  is  defiled  under  the 
inhabitants  thereof;  because  they  have  trans- 
gressed the  laws,  changed  the  ordinance,  broken 
the  everlasting  covenant:"  again,  Is.  ch.  40,  v.  viii., 
"  The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth,  but 
the  word  of  God  shall  stand  for  ever  ;"  also  in 
Deut.  ch.  7,  v.  ix.,  "  Know  that  the  Lord,  the 
faithful  God,  who  keepeth  covenant  and  mercy 
with  them  that  love  him  and  keep  his  command- 
ments to  a  thousand  .generations;"  again  Deut. 
ch.  n,  v.  i.,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
and  keep  his  statutes,  his  judgments,  and  his 
commandments  always^'  And  in  Numbers 
ch.  15,  z1.  xv.,  "One  ordinance  shall  be  both 
for  you  and  for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth 
with  you,  an  ordinance  for  ever_  in  your  gene- 
rations." But  possibly  there  is  no  quotation 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


that  could  be  selected  from  the  Holy  Volume 
which  would  better  serve  to  prove  the  intended 
durability  of  the  Law  than  the  following  :— 
Is.  ch.  24,  v.  iv.,  "  My  Covenant  will  I  not  break, 
nor  alter  the  thing  that  has  %one  out  of  my  lips, 
saith  the  T.nvtl"  Surely  here  we  have  the 
•clearest  evidence  that  the  Mosaic  code  is  to  be 
both  permanent  and  immutable  ;  indeed,  to  admit 
the  bare  possibility  that  any  occurrence  could 
happen  which  might  lead  to  a  modification  of 
what  God  Himself  has  once  decreed,  and  this, 
in  the  most  emphatic,  most  unqualified  language, 
is  little  short  of  impugning  the  Divine  attributes 
of  Omnipotence  and  Omniscience.  Truly,  that 
charter  of  Sinai  upon  which  the  Eternal  set 
His  signet,  and  which  has  stood  the  test  of 
centuries,  will,  to  quote  the  words  of  David, 
Ps.  ch.  105,  v.  viii.,  "  Endure  to  one  thousand 
generations."  That  this  was  the  conviction  of/ 
those  faithful  servants  of  God,  who  were  per- 
mitted to  read  the  future  and  prophesy  in  the 
name  of  the  Most  High,  admits  of  no  shadow 

O       ' 

of  doubt,  else,  instead  of  explicitly  holding  out 
the  assurance  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Law, 
and  devising  every  possible  means  of  dissemi- 
nating the  Holy  Ordinances  among  the  people, 


io  The  Jewish  Armo^try. 

exhorting  their  observance  alike  by  threats  and 
entreaties,  and  sparing  no  labour  which  could 
contribute  thereto,  these  inspired  prophets 
would  assuredly  have  made  known  any  forth- 
coming change  and  prepared  their  disciples  for 
it.  Without  this  firm  conviction  would  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah  have  written  out  the  law  and  en- 
forced its  fulfilment  ?  Would  the  positive  com- 
mand for  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
various  other  inculcations  have  been  again  and 
again  insisted  on  by  each  succeeding  prophet  of 
the  Lord  from  the  time  of  Isaiah  to  that  of 
Malachi  ?  Indeed,  the  last  words  of  the  latter  at 
the  very  close  of  Bible  history,  ch.  4,  v.  iv.. 
"  Remember  ye  the  law  of  Moses,  my  servant" 
left  on  record  an  injunction  for  after  centuries, 
and  for  all  people,  that  the  Mosaic  Code  was 
never  to  be  abrogatecTor  superh^ded,  but  to  be 
held  in  sacred  trust  and  carried  down  generation 
after  generation  to  the  end  of  time. 

It  would  be  superfluous  to  refer  here  to  the 
numerous  Psalms  which  demonstrate  how  en- 
tirely their  authors  were  imbued  with  the 
doctrine  that  the  Mosaic  dispensation  was 
imperishable,  and  indeed  it  would  be  worse 
than  futile  to  adduce  any  arguments  therefrom, 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


since  these  compositions,  admirable  though  they 

are,   not  being  inspired  like  the  Books  of  the  y 

Prophets,  merely  serve  to  convey  the  individual 

belief    of    the   writers,    and,   therefore,    fail    to- 

afford  that  positive  evidence  which  alone  could 

give  to  their  words  the  authoritative  stamp  of 

truth. 

Having  sought  to  show  beyond  all  question 
that  the  laws  of  Moses  are  to  endure  "  for 
ever,"  and  admitting  thatMiad  this  assertion 
been  qualified  by  the  admission  that  some 
portion  only  of  those  laws,  particularly  the 
Ten  Commandments,  were  given  in  perpetuity 
the  arguments  here  advanced  would  have  met 
with  little  opposition,  if  not,  indeed,  with 
universal  assent,  it  now  becomes  essential  to- 
offer  a  few  brief  remarks  on  this  subject,  and 
endeavour  to  prove  that  the  whole  Mosaic  Code 
is  immutable,  and  must  stand  or  fall  in  its 
integrity.  Most  certainly  it  is  impossible  to- 
find  one  single  verse  or  sentence  in  the  Penta- 
teuch wherein  it  can  be  said  that  Moses  ever 
broached  the  thought  of  the  slighest  repeal  or 
change,  or  wherein  he  specified  any7  difference 
in  regard  to  the  divers  laws  he  taught  the 
people,  except,  indeed,  in  those  instances  where 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


r  performance  were  only  possible  so  long- 
as  the  Israelites  inhabited  the  Holy  Land^  as, 
for  example,  the  law  of  manslaughter  in  con- 
nection with  the  cities  of  refuge  ;  the  sacrifices 
and  burnt  offerings  in  the  Sanctuary  of  the  Holy 
of  Holies  ;  the  jubilee  and  such  ordinances  as 
solely  appertained  to  agriculture,  the  all  en- 
grossing occupation  of  those  times,  and  nearly 
the  only  means  of  subsistence  or  prosperity. 

Now,  can  it  be  doubted  that  hadnptevery 
law  been  equally  binding,  the  distinction  would 
?c/  c*t&  have  been  plainly  set  forth,  and  the  obligation 
•of  each  especial  statute  been  clearly  defined  in 
that  Pentateuch'  which  was,  at  the  command  of 
God,  to  be  handed  down  from  father  to  son, 
and  preserved  unimpaired  to  all  futurity?  And 
happily,  such  has  been  the  case  for  long  cen- 
turies ;  indeed,  had  not  the  Mosaic  religion,  with 
the  sublime  ethical  precepts  it  unfolds,  been 
intended  to  abide  "  for  everlasting,"  the  Jewish 
nation  must  long,  long  ere  this  have  become 
extinct,  trampled  down  as  it  has  been  by  un- 
ceasing and  cruel  persecutions,  oppressed  and 
oftentimes  gravitating  to  its  fall  through  incessant 
struggles  for  bare  existence,  and,  withal,  vigor- 
ously and  often  ruthlessly  assailed  by  the 


Tfie  Jewish  Armoury. 


13. 


intolerant  and  bigoted  followers  of  new-born-  C&~ 
creeds,  who,  in  the  search  for  proselytes  and 
religious  supremacy,  ignored  the  stem  from 
which  they  had  sprung,  and  forgetful  of  the  . 
infallibility  and  perfection  of  God's  laws,  enun- 
ciated for  their  own  belief  a  higher — a  more 
philanthropic  code  of  morality  !  Truly,  the  fact 
that  Judaism  has  stood  firm  and  majestic 
through  long  ages,  and  its  Sinaic  laws  been 
preserved  intact  for  centuries,  must  of  itself 
afford  ample  guarantee  of  its  permanent  dura- 
tion ;  but,  further,  let  it  once  be  proved  that 
those  laws  are  "  true  and  perfect  altogether," 
thus  worthy  of  being  perpetuated,  and  more 
than  enough  will  have  been  advanced  in  support 
of  the  assurance  conveyed  through  the  Holy 
Volume,  that  the  law  of  Moses  was  destined 
to  be  transmitted  from  "  generation  to  genera- 
tion," from  "  everlasting  to  everlasting,"  "  for 
evermore." 

The  words  "true"  and  "perfect"  now  demand 
our  attention,  and  these  having  the  closest 
affinity  when  considered  in  reference  to  the  law 
of  Moses,  may  therefore  be  treated  in  common,, 
for  it  is  self-evident  that  this  code  could  not  be 
perfect  unless  the  whole  of  its  component  parts 


14  Tlie  Jewish  Armoury. 

—its  very  essence — were  true,  whilst,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  must  be  true,  since  it  proceeds 
from  the  Omniscient,  the.  God  of  truth.  These 
emphatic  and  all  comprehensive  words  have 
also  this  in  unison,  that  they  admit  of  no  super- 
lative, for  what  is  true  cannot  be  more  true,  or 
that  which  is  perfect,  cannot,  by  any  possibility, 
attain  to  a  greater  degree  of  perfection.  But  it 
may  be  said  that  the  words  "  true "  and  "  per- 
fect" are  supple,  and  oftentimes  change  their 
character  altogether,  according  to  times  and 
circumstances,  and  this  may  be  justly  affirmed 
when  human  institutions  are  in  question ;  but  can 
such  be  advanced  in  regard  to  those  laws  wrhich 

o 

were  given  by  the  immutable  Lord  of  all  flesh  ? 
Assuredly  not ;  we  may  not,  we  dare  not,  enter- 
tain even  the  mere  notion,  while,  indeed,  none 
but  a  sceptic  will  deny  that  the  Mosaic  Code 
—unaltered, — unchanged, — is  as  true  and  per- 
fect now  as  at  the  period  of  its  delivery  on 
Mount  Sinai. 

It  would  be  worse  than  useless  further  to 
allude  to  what  appears  so  self-evident,  except 
for  the  fact  that  iL  is  repeatedly  alleged  and 
strenuously  contended  that  the  new  dispensa- 
tion of  another  creed  has  introduced  laws  and 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


doctrines  calculated  to  teach  a  higher  morality, 
us  well  as  a  purer  spirituality,  and  therefore 
should  supersede  the  old  ;  but  such  being  the 
case,  it  becomes  imperative  on  us  to  examine  if 
this  assertion  could  have  any  solid  foundation, 
for  if  it  were  possible  to  prove  that  even  one  of 
the  Mosaic  laws  needed  to  be  supplanted  or 
supplemented,  then  would  the  heavenly-given 
code  necessarily  be  imperfect.  To  amend  that 
which  is  perfect  is  manifestly  impossible,  since 
any  change  made  is  simply  to  render  it  im- 
perfect. i  , 

Now  4      the   Sinaic  dispensation   lack   that 


vital    principle    which   is    fitted    to    ensure  ,the 

happiness  of-  all  God's   creatures,  did    noti/the 

.  ! 

various    laws    enjoin    virtue    and    tend    to    re- 

press vice,  in  a  word,  did  they  not  inculcate 
the  highest  possible  morality  consistent  with 
human  nature,  then,  indeed,  might  the  Jewish 
code  be  considered  ill  adapted  for  that  standard 
of  perfection  to  which  all  mankind  should  look 
up  for  guidance,  and  thereby  seek  to  gain  the 
lavour  of  a  kind  and  merciful  Judge,  the 
gracious  giver  of  the  Holy  Law.  But  as  it 
can  be  amply  demonstrated  that  the  Mosaic 
code  fulfils  all  these  conditions,  the  conclusion 


1 6  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


which  ensues  is  inevitable,  that,  taking  the  words- 
true  and  perfect  in  their  literal  signification, 
without  any  double  interpretation,  they  clearly 
define  the  character  of  God's  sublime  law,  and 
as  "true"  and  "perfect"  it  will  surely  endure  in 
its  entirety  from  "  everlasting  to  everlasting." 

It  now  only  remains  to  advert  to  some  few 
of  the  numerous  facts  and  inferences  which  lead 
to  the  conviction,  indeed  to  the  certainty,  that 
the  Mosaic  code  is  alike  true  and  perfect, 
an<^  among  them  the  following  may  well  be 
selected  :— Firstly,  That  it  directly  emanated 
from  the  Divine  Will,  and  moreover  was 
solemnly  delivered  by  the  Supreme  himself, 
the  Lord  of  infinite  wisdom  and  perfection,  and 
in  the  presence  of  a  vast  assembled  multitude, 
as  we  read  in  Deut.  ch.  29,  v.  10.  :  "Ye  stand 
this  day  all  of  you  before  the  Lord  your  God  ; 
your  captains  of  your  tribes,  your  elders,  your 
little  ones,  your  wives,  and  the  stranger  that  is 
in  your  camp,  from  the  hewer  of  wood  unto  the 
drawer  of  thy  water,  that  thou  should'st  enter 
into  covenant  with  the  Lord  thy  God  unto  his 
oath  which  the  Lord  thy  God  maketh  with  thee 
this  day  ;"  and  proceeding  to  verse  15,  we  find 
it  there  clearly  and  amply  demonstrated  that  it 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


was  not  intended  to  be  either  local  or  tempo- 
rary, but  was  adapted  for  transmission  to  all 
futurity,  else  it  would  not  have  been  thus 
enjoined,  "  Neither  with  you  only  who  stand 
here  this  day  do  I  make  this  covenant  and  this 
oath  ;  but  also  with  him  that  is  not  here  this 
day'' 


Secondly  :  The  distinct  command  given 
there    should    be   no  amendment  or  alterations^  *4*\ 
whatsoever  to  the  Law,  is  of  itself  alone  proof 
positive    that    it    contains    all     the    elements 
essential   and  vital  to  man's  well-being.     And 
this  is  the  injunction,  Deut.    ch.   4,  v.   2,   "  Ye 
shall  not  add  unto  the  word  which  I  command 
you,  nor  shall  ye  diminish  aught  from  it;"  and 
again  at  ch.    12,  v.  32,   "What  thing  soever   I 
command  you,  observe  to  do  it  ;   thou  shalt  not 
add  thereto  nor  diminish  from  it." 

Thirdly""!  Its  duration,  tor  it  could  not 
possibly  have  resisted  the  repeated  attacks 
levelled  against  it  from  all  sides  during  no  less 

o  ^> 

a  period  than  thirty  centuries  and  survived 
unmaimed  and  vigorous,  but  that  it  derived 
a  vitality  which  truth  and  perfection  alone 
could  impart,  or  in  the  words  of  Moses,  Deut. 
ch.  4,  v.  8,  "  What  nation  has  statutes  so 

c 


1 8  The  Jewish  Armoiiry. 

righteous  as  all  this  law  ?"  Had  it  lacked  any 
essential  precepts  or  ordinances,  had  some  com- 
mand calculated  to  lead  man  to  virtue  and  to 
God  been  omitted,  its  stability  would  surely 
have  been  endangered,  but  that  it  has  weathered 
every  storm,  and  during  the  lapse  of  ages 
seen  many  a  new  conflicting  system  rise  and 
fall,  assuredly  speaks  in  a  marvellous  and  un- 
paralleled manner  the  perfection  and  truth  of 
the  immortal  code  propounded  by  our  inspired 
Prophet. 

Fourthly  :  The  Laws  themselves  with  their 
.  high  moral  inculcations,  their  applicability  to 
every  situation  of  life,  to  every  phase  of  ex- 
istence, from  tenderest  youth  to  old  age,  their 
adaptation  to  each  lofty  aspiration,  each 
spiritual  want ;  in  a  word,  their  potency  in 
ministering  to  the  happiness  and  well-being 
of  humanity,  affords  conclusive  evidence  that 
they  are  of  Divine  origin,  and  hence  must 
infallibly  be  alike  true  and  perfect. 

It  would,  however,  be  as  inopportune  as 
superfluous,  to  enlarge  here  on  this  subject, 
since  it  will  be  the  purport  of  the  two  following 
chapters  practically  to  demonstrate  in  detail  all 
that  has  just  been  advanced  in  regard  to  the 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  19 

Mosaic  Code  in  its  entirety.  Suffice  it  to  remark 
that  therein  the  sacred  rights  of  life  and  property 
are  strictly  prescribed  ;  forbearance,  charity, 
love,  and  the  purest  spirit  of  philanthropy  are 
enjoined  ;  every  virtue  is  inculcated,  and  the 
duty  of  man  to  his  God  and  to  his  fellow- 
creatures  is  clearly  demonstrated  and  emphati- 
cally enforced,  whilst  it  may  also  be  observed 
that  God  Himself  hath  said  to  His  people, 

Deut.  ch.  1 8,  v.  13,  "Be  perfect,"  a  command 
which  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  Divine 
decree  then  delivered  by  Infinite  Wisdom  and 
goodness,  is  a  further  confirmation  of  the  de- 
claration that  "  the  law  is  perfect  and  righteous 
altogether."  By  the  observance  of  the  Heaven- 
given  code  alone  can  man  hope  to  become 
"  perfect,"  since  assuredly  conscience  and  judg- 
ment would  of  themselves  be  alike  powerless  to 
direct  him  aright  or  map  out  moral  excellence, 
truth,  and  perfection.  J 

Fifthly  :  The  effect  of  the  Mosaic  Code  on 
individual  character.  The  world's  history  most 
certainly  contains  no  more  perfect,  no  more 
righteous  men  than  those  who  took  the  Sinaic 
laws  for  their  guidance  and  strictly  followed 
their  sublime  ethical  inculcations.  To  their  rigid 


2O  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

adherence  to  each  precept,  each  command,  in 
the  dispensation  vouchsafed  from  Heaven,  may 
surely  be  traced  the  excellence  which  dis- 
tinguished each  true,  each  faithful  servant  of 
God,  nor  indeed  does  this  remark  refer  exclu- 
sively to  Biblical  characters,  such  for  exam- 
ple as  Moses  himself,  or  Samuel,  Daniel,  or 
Jeremiah,  but  is  clearly  discernible  in  the  lives 
of  every  individual  who  has  made  himself  a 
name  for  goodness,  for  probity  and  for  intrinsic 
worth. 

Sixthly:  The  bias  of  the  Sinaic  laws  on  the 
human  mind.     That  men  of  the  greatest  intel- 
Jwvk         ^lectual  powers  and  towering  mental  calibre  have 
in  succeeding  generations  regarded  those  laws 


/  _  as  the  very  basis  of  all  excellence  is  not  without 
its  significance,  for  were  they  not  alike  true  and 
perfect,  they  would  surely  have  failed  to  main- 
tain their  ascendency  and  have  ceased  to  be 
transmitted  as  a  glorious  heirloom  from  father 

O 

to  son.  But  it  is  beyond  dispute  that  the  very 
men  who  have  shone  brightest  and  displayed 
the  most  exalted  moral  qualities,  as  well  as  the 
highest  mental  culture,  are  those  who  have  borne 
undying  testimony  both  by  word  and  deed  to 
their  profound  appreciation  of  the  Divine  com- 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  21 


mands.  Did  not  King  David  proclaim  their 
efficacy  when  he  said — "  Thy  word  is  a  lamp 
to  my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  path  "  ?  And 
again,  Ps.  ch.  19,  v.  7,  "The  law  of  the  Lord 
is  perfect,  converting  the  soul:  the  word  of  the 
Lord  is  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes."  Further, 
he  declared,  "  Thy  commandment  is  exceed- 
ingly broad  ;  for  ever,  O  Lord,  thy  word  is 
settled  in  heaven  ;  give  me  understanding  and 
I  shall  keep  thy  law,  yea,  I  shall  keep  it  with 
my  whole  heart."  That  he  sought  to  perpetuate 
these  statutes,  believing  in  their  perfection  and 
adaptation  to  every  human  want,  we  may  feel 
assured,  when  we  regard  his  dying  injunction 
to  the  son  who  was  to  succeed  him  on  the 
throne.  In  i  Kings  ch.  2,  v.  3,  we  read,  "  David 
charged  Solomon,  saying,  Keep  the  charge  of 
the  Lord  thy  God  to  walk  in  his  ways,  to  keep 
his  statutes  and  his  commandments  and  his 
judgments  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses" 
Nor  did  King  Solomon,  the  wisest  of  men,  hold 
them  in  less  estimation,  judging  by  his  writings 
in  general  and  by  the  following  injunction  in 
particular — Eccles.  ch.  12,  v.  13,  "  Fear  God 
and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this  is  the  whole 
duty  of  man."  Also  in  the  most  solemn  and 


22  The  Jeivisk  Armoury. 


emphatic  manner  did  each  sacred  penman  extol 
them,  and  with  a  zealous  fervour  exhort  their 
performance,  whilst  they  further  sought  to 
transmit  them  in  their  integrity  to  after  gene- 
rations. And  none  more  earnestly  laboured 
therein  than  Ezra,  the  "  ready  scribe  of  the 
Law  of  Moses,  who  "  prepared  his  heart  to 
seek  the  law  of  the  Lord,"  who  "opened  the 
Book  of  the  Lord  in  the  sight  of  the  people 
and  caused  them  to  understand  the  sense 
thereof."  Even  the  very  last  injunction  of  the 
last  of  the  Prophets  shows  the  law  was  held  in 
no  less  estimation  after  the  lapse  of  1,300  years, 
since  it  was  enjoined  by  Malachi  ch.  4, 
27.  4,  "  Remember  ye  the  law  of  Moses,  with  the 
statutes  and  judgments." 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  allude  specifically 
to  the  host  of  distinguished  men  of  more 
modern  times  whose  writings  and  acts  alike 
bear  testimony  to  their  belief  in  the  perfection 
of  the  Mosaic  Code,  since  their  names  will  for 
ever  be  found  engraven  on  the  page  of  profane 
History."" 

Seventhly :  The  laws  being  free  from  all 
ambiguity  and  obscurity,  they  admit  of,  indeed 

*  See  chapter  V.  which  treats  on  this  subject. 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  23 

even  court,  the  keenest  enquiry.  .  Their  sim- 
plicity, being  without  a  shadow  of  mysticism, 
permit  the  test  of  the  severest  criticism,  and 
withal,  the  profound  wisdom  which  lies  at  their 
very  root,  never  fails  to  manifest  itself  at  each 
important  juncture,  triumphing  over  those  laws 
and  observances,  which  have  been  fashioned 
by  fallible  man,  and  thereby  giving  positive 
evidence  of  their  truth  and  perfection. 

Eighth  and  lastly  :  The  fact  that  no  one  com- 
mand  clashes  with  another,  but  all  dovetail  with 
the  most  admirable  precision,  and  together  form 
a  bulwark  of  moral  ethics  to  which  each  of 
God's  creatures  may  resort  for  guidance,  and  in 
those  true  and  righteous  laws  find  that  which 
Infinite  Wisdom  decreed  should  be  the  only, 
the  undeviating  rule  of  life  and  of  moral 
conduct. 


24  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  Laws  themselves  now  call  for  special 
and  separate  consideration,  and  it  will  be  the 
main  purport  of  this  and  th'e  following  chapter 
to  substantiate  what  has  been  advanced,  and 
show  how  fully  they  bear  the  imprint  of  infinite 
wisdom  and  justice,  those  high  and  gracious 
attributes  of  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe. 
With  this  object  we  shall  summarize  and  bring 
into  prominent  relief  some  of  the  many  emi- 
nently practical  Laws  which  the  inspired  pen- 
man drew  up  and  clearly  set  forth  in  the  Penta- 
teuch for  the  guidance  of  after  generations. 

It  being,  however,  advisable  to  consider  the 
varied  covenants  and  laws  under  twojdistinct 
headings,  it  will  now  be  our  object  to  pass  brietly 
in  review  those  nrHipanrpc;  whirh  fqw  but  the 
sceptic  and  the  scoffer  will  impugn  or  disregard, 
postponing  to  the  following  cKapter  our  com- 
ments on  such  Divine  injunctions  as  possibly 
display  less  markecT[\r  tlie  higrT  and  important 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


influence  they  are  calculated  to  exercise  on  the 
world  at  large  and  on  the  Jewish  nation  in 
particular. 

On  directing  then  our  attention,  firstly,  to 
those  laws  and  ordinances,  most  of  which  have 
not  been  prized  by  the  Jewish  people  alone,  but 
also  by  the  enlightened  and  pious  of  every 
civilized  nation,  it  will  be  well  to  commence 
with  the  consideration  of  the  ten  command- 
ments, the  very  basis  of  moral  ethics,  embracing 
as  they  do  the  whole  duty  of  man  to  God  and 
to  his  fellow-creatures.  But  the  all-compre- 
hensive precepts  which  are  embodied  in  the 
Decalogue  will  demand  separately  only  a  few- 
brief  remarks,  since  they  may  be  left  to  speak 
their  own  perfection  and  Divine  origin. 

Taking  in  conjuction  the  first  and  second 
commandments,  both  of  which  Distinctly  pro- 
claim the  Unity  of  the  Godhead  in  the  sentences, 
"I  am  the  Lord  thy  God"  and  "Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  God  besides  me,"  then  coupling 
them  with  the  emphatic,  clear  and  oft  repeated 
declaration,  "  The  Lord  is  ONE/'  and  "  I,  the 
Lord  am  Holy,"  it  must  be  admitted  that  these 
two  commandments  are  well  calculated  to  sub- 
serve a  high  moral  purpose,  since  they  tend  to 


26  The  Jeivisk  Armoury. 

fix  the  mind  exclusively  on  the  sole  fount  of 
Infinite  goodness  and  holiness,  and  greatly  con- 
duce to  rouse  the  best  sentiments  of  the  heart, 
and  direct  them  in  all  purity  of  spirit  to  the 
One  immutable  Being  to  whom  alone  is  due  all 
reverence,  all  love,  all  obedience,  or,  in  a  word, 
that  faithful  adherence  to  the  inculcations  of 
righteousness  which  are  so  strictly,  so  solemnly 
enjoined  in  the  all-gracious  statutes  and  ordi- 
nances vouchsafed  from  on  Hi^h. 

Cj 

Turning  to  the  third  commandment,  we  can- 
not fail  to  discern  that  in  order  to  act"  in  accord- 
ance with  it,  we  should  always  collect  our 
thoughts  before  we  utter  the  ineffable  name  of 
Go3Tnp_ra.yer,  for  to  neglect  this  bounden  duty 
must  infallibly  lead  to  the  disregard  of  what  is 
due  to  the  Supreme,  whose  "  mercies  are  new 
every  morning,"  and  will  surely  end  in  our 
"  taking  the  Lord's  name  in  vain."  Further 
remarks  we  reserve  till  treating  on  the  ninth 
commandment,  when  this  injunction  will  be  con- 
sidered in  its  social  bearing. 

Proceeding  then  to  the  fourth  commandment, 
it  will  not  be  needful  to  make  any  comments  on 
its  first  ordinance,  "  to  labour  and  do  all  thy 
work  "  during  six  days,  as  even  ordinary  ex- 


The  Jezuisk  Armoury.  27 

perience  clearly  demonstrates  that  social  well- 
being  depends  in  a  great  measure  on  each  in- 
dividual accomplishing  his  allotted  duties  and 
sedulously  fulfilling  his  especial  vocation,  but 
we  must  briefly  dilate  on  the  solemn  mandate  of 
the  Supreme,  "  to  rest  on  the  seventh  day,"  a 
command  repeatedly  and  emphatically  enjoined 
throughout  the  Pentateuch,  since  the  beautiful 
institution  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  beneficial 
effects  its  observance  is  calculated  to  produce, 
are  only  too  frequently  disregarded  or  ignored. 
This  injunction,  however,  having  been  con- 
sidered in  all  its  bearings  under  the  heading  of 
"  The  Sabbath  "  in  "  Moral  Biblical  Gleanings  " 
(the  author's  last  religious  work),  it  will  here 
suffice  to  give  such  extracts  therefrom  as- 
especially  refer  to  the  subject  matter  in  ques- 
tion. "  Among  the  benefits  which  it  should 
bring  in  its  train  may  be  numbered  bodily  and 
mental  refreshment  ;  and  for  this  we  must  know 
nothing  of  idleness,  l>ut  much  of  repose.  On 
this  day,  a  day  of  compensation,  lost  stamina  is 
to  be  recovered,  power  to  be  restored,  energies 
to  be  recruited,  the  weary  brain  relaxed,  and 
mental  quietude  engendered  by  calm,  healthy 
and  truthful  reflections.  When  this  result  is 


28  The  Jeivish  Armoury. 


attained,  we  shall  be  able  to  resume  with  all 
necessary  energy  the  business  engagements  of 
the  ensuing  week,  and  efficiently  discharge  the 
many  obligations  and  duties  which  pertain  to 
our  position  in  life.  Renewed  zest  will  have 
been  engendered  by  the  temporary  suspension 
of  business  cares,  and  the  mind,  having  for  a 
time  buried  in  oblivion  thoughts  which  worried 

O 

or  oppressed  it,  will  have  regained  its  elasticity, 
its  vigor,  and  with  them  renewed  confidence 
and  trust.  The  next  benefit  we  may  derive 
from  the  sacred  day  of  rest  is  Intellectual  im- 
provement, for  does  not  the  Bible  tell  us  that 
'  they — "wKo  seek  the  Lord  understand  all 
things  ?'  That  mind  will  be  clear  and  bright  to 
discern  the  things  of  earth  which  has  been 
furnished  with  heavenly  truths,  and  if  these  be 
not  taken  to  heart  on  the  peaceful  Sabbath, 
they  will  assuredly  receive  little  attention  on 
the  working  days.  .  .  .  Finally,  a  benefit 
which  greatly  depends  thereon  is  our  moral 
progress  ;  a  truly  pious  and  virtuous  character 
is  not  to  be  formed  without  those  reflections 
which  the  holy  day  is  every  way  calculated  to 
suggest.  We  must  then  learn  to  be  and  to  do 
good ;  we  must  turn  our  thoughts  inwards, 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  29 


examine  the  disposition  of  our  heart,  review 
our  past  conduct,  give  heed  to  errors  com- 
mitted, and  fixedly  determine  the  straight  line 
for  future  guidance.  When  reflections  fol- 
lowed by  good  resolutions  have  been  made  a 
constant  weekly  practice,  then  shall  we  be  well 
fitted  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  business  and 
charities  of  life."  ..."  But  would  we 
enhance  our  appreciation  of  that  Sabbath  which 
does  so  much  to  promote  our  worldly  interests 
and  confers  on  us  so  many  spiritual  benefits, 
we  have  only  for  a  moment  to  consider  this 
heavenly  boon  withdrawn^  and  that  we  were 
obliged  to  toil  mind  and  body  without  respite. 
Would  not  our  constitution  be  undermined,  and 
our  health  greatly  impaired  ?  Would  not  de- 
bility and  illness  attack  our  frames,  force  us 
from  the  haunts  of  men,  and  injure  our  worldly 
prospects  ?  Would  not  our  thoughts  gradually 
centre  in  the  things  of  earth  to  the  exclusion  of 
our  spiritual  welfare,  and  our  hearts  harden 
under  the  never-ceasing  stimulus  of  selfish 
interests  ?  There  would,  indeed,  be  little  left 
to  sanctify  our  lives  ;  we  should  only  at  rare 
intervals,  and  for  short  periods,  raise  our  minds 
to  our  Maker,  study  His  laws,  and  so  frame 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


our  conduct  thereby.  Truly  both  our  moral  and 
physical  well-being  wrould  have  received  a  rude 
shock."  ..."  Let  us  therefore  have  ever 
before  our  eyes  its  negative  "as  well  as  its  posi- 
tive advantages,  and  love  the  holy  Sabbath 
with  its  ordinances  for  its  own  sake  as  well  as  for 
the  good  it  can  and  will  accomplish.  We  shall 
then  take  for  its  motto — rest,  trust  and  be 
thankful — bearing  ever  in  mind  that  to  dis- 
regard the  beautiful  provisions  of  Providence 
is  to  work  against  our  own  well-being,  and  to 
violate  the  Sabbatical  appointment  is  truly  a 
suicidal  act." 

The  fifth  commandment,  the  sense  of  which 
is  thus  reiterated  in  Lev.  ch.  19,  v.  3,  in  these 
words — "  Ye  shall  fear  every  man  his  father 
arid  his  mother," — may  also  be  dismissed  with  a 
brief  notice,  since  the  injunction  to  honour 
and  obey  the  authors  of  our  being,  through 
whom,  under  Providence,  we  have  from  infancy 
received  every  enjoyable  blessing,  appeals 
directly  to  each  human  breast,  and  assuredly 
none  but  those  who  are  utterly  dead  to  right_ 
feeling  and  generous  emotions  will  disregard  it.^ 
Being  unwilling,  however,  to  pass  over  this 


command    without 


showing 


that,    like    every 


?  he  Jewish  Armoury. 


Divine  law,  it  must  not  only  be  fraught  with 
material  benefit  to  those  who  adhere  to  its 
inculcations,  but  also  that  its  neglect  will  surely_ 
•entail  the  most  dire  consequences,  we  deem  it 
advisable  to  contrast  me  effects  which  can 
hardly  fail  to  attend  the  fulfilment  or  non-fulfil- 
ment of  a  son's  imperative  duty.  And  for  this 
purpose  we  will  once  more  give  a  brief  extract 
from  "  Moral  Biblical  Gleanings,"  referring  the 
reader  to  the  heading  of  "  Filial  Affection,"  for 
a  full  treatment  of  the  subject.  "  The  youth 
who  attends  to  the  admonitions  of  his  fond 
parents,  hearkens  respectfully  ta  their  advice, 
and  follows  it  cheerfully,  ever  striving  to  walk 
by  the  greater  light  of  their  experience,  and 
seeking  to  become  deserving  of  their  glowing 
aspirations,  will  prove  himself  a  worthy  son  ; 
and  never  yet  did  a  worthy  son  fail  in  perform- 
ing his  part  in  life  worthily  as  a  man.  Earnestly 
fulfilling  every  moral  duty,  he  will  assuredly 
secure  the  respect  and  love  of  all  good  men, 
and  the  happiness  which  smiled  upon  him  first 
within  his  home  will  go  forth  with  him  into 
the  world  without."  .  .  .  "  Truly  filial  affec- 
tion is  not  alone  a  duty,  but  a  prerogative  ;  and 
thrice  happy  the  son  who  can  throw  so  glowing 


The  Jewish  Annoury. 


and  glorious  a  halo  over  the  spirit  of  a  dying 
parent,  receiving  in  return  what  must  spread 
a  hallowed  joy  over  his  entire  life — that  loving 
parent's  parting  benediction."  ..."  But 
heavy  and  severe  will  be  the  penalty  which 
that  youth  has  to  pay,  who,  regardless  of  duty 
and  his  own  self-interest,  rashly  and  wilfully 
Trrsobeys  parental  commands.  Surely,  if  every 
minor  dereliction  of  duty  is  fraught  with  evil, 
sad  and  painful  must  be  the  consequences 
entailed  by  filial  disobedience.  To  him  who 
refuses  the  light  of  experience,  the  road 
to  ruin  will  be  as  swift  as  certain.  Heart, 
purse,  and  health,  will  soon  be  alike  bank- 
rupt. When  conscience  ceases  to  struggle 
for  the  right,  when  no  chord  of  sympathy  or 
love  is  struck  by  the  sight  of  anguish 
written  in  legible  characters  on  that  face  which 
it  \vas  a  son's  duty  to  irradiate  with  joy,  when 
a  father's  anger  is  obdurately  defied,  and  passion 
is  allowed  full  sway,  that  goal  is  nearly  reached 
whence  there  can  b2  no  return.  Truly  nought 
but  compunction  of  conscience  will  be  left  to 
him  who,  besides  ruining  his  own  prospects, 
has  disappointed  the  fond  aspirations  of  loving- 
parents.  Nor  can  his  sorrow  be  otherwise  than 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  33 

greatly  heightened  when  he  sees  death  laying 
its  cold  hand  on  that  father  or  mother  to  whom 
all  reparation  has  now  become  impossible.  Yet 
even  a  severer  sting  than  this  will  occasionally 
wound  the  undutiful  child ;  for  if  his  unfilial 
conduct  has  inflicted  a  blow  which  in  any 
measure  hastened  that  fatal  end,  an  agony  of 
remorse  and  self-condemnation  will  steal  upon 
him ;  too  late  will  he  then  remember  that 
parents  forgive  much,  very  much  ;  indeed,  that 


the  fond  mother  will  pardon  nearly  all  but 
ingratitude,  and  that  by  obstinately  persisting 
in  subjecting  her  to  this  cruel  wrong,  he  has 
basely  stabbed  her  to  the  quick  —  perhaps 
broken  her  heart,  and  sent  her  sorrowing  to 
the  grave.  Let,  then,  the  son  who  would  save 
himself  in  later  yearsTrbm  the  stings  of  con- 
science and  much  bitter  grief, 


rns~  first  step  in  opposition  to  a  parent's  counsel. 
Indeed,  it  surely  behoves  him  to  regard  such 
advice  as  an  inestimable  boon,  for  then  will  he 
make  a  pleasure  of  obedience,  and  wisely 
profiting  by  the  experience  of  age  and  the 
lessons  of  love,  will  become  an  honour  to  his 
family,  a  pride  and  a  joy  to  beloved  and  loving 
parents." 

D 


^     34  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

^          — . — . 

To  the  last  five  commandments  have  we 
now  to  direct  our  attention,  and  these  pro- 
hibitory laws  may  not  only  be  considered 
together,  but  can  advantageously  be  taken  in 
conjunction  with  the  all-comprehensive  and 
sublime  ethical  precept — Lev.  ch.  19,  v.  xviii.,  to 
"  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  in  which  they 
are  clearly  comprised.  And  here  it  may  be 
worthy  of  remark,  lest  the  idea  conveyed  by 
the  term  "  neighbour"  *  might  be  regarded  in 
its  narrow  and  contracted  sense,  that  the 
Hebrew  word  should,  according  to  the  ablest 
Jewish  scholars,  be  translated  "  fellow-man," 
and  further,  we  find  the  significant  expression 
"stranger"  introduced  in  the  almost  syno- 
nimous  sentence — Deut.  ch.  10,  v.  xix.,  "  The 
Lord  of  lords  loveth  the  stranger,  love  ye  there- 
fore  the  stranger"  which  imparts  a  distinct  and 
definite  idea  to  the  mind,  thereby  precluding  all 
misinterpretation,  all  misconception.  In  these 
injunctions,  containing  the  very  essence  and 
embodiment  of  Judaism,  are  to  be  found  a 

*  In  regard  to  this  word  "neighbour"  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  no  one  verse  is  to  be  found  restricting  it 
to  an  Israelite,  indeed  it  is  practically  demonstrated 
otherwise,  since  the  term  —  neighbour — was  equally 
applied  to  the  Adullamite  and  to  the  Egyptian. 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  35 

•deterrent  to  such  sinful  propensities  as  must 
surely  lead  to  the  infringement,  if  not  indeed  to 
the  positive  infraction  of  the  last  five  command- 
ments, which  have  an  especial  bearing  upon  the 
duty  of  man  to  man.  Let  us  but  truly  "  Love  our 
neighbour,"  and  it  will  necessarily  follow  that 
we  shall  resolutely  refrain  from  injuring  him 
even  under  provocation,  or  in  any  way  wound- 
ing his  feelings  by  either  word  or  act ;  indeed, 
the  pure  spirit  of  benevolence,  or  charity  in  its 
broadest  sense,  will  certainly  characterize  our 
conduct  and  keep  us  ever  mindful  of  the 
rights  and  interests  of  others. 

Now  assuredly  it  is  owing  to  the  wilful  viola-        *  / 
tion  of  the  sixth  commandment — "  Thou  shalt    A 
not  kill,"  as  well  as  of  the  grand  fundamental 
principle  to   "  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself," 
that  duelling  is  yet  rampant  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  and  that   so   many  descend   to   their 
graves  branded  with  the  curse  of  Cain.     Also, 
when  we  slander  or  take  away  the  reputation 
•of  a  fellow-creature,   so  that  ruin  and  misery 
ensue,  then  are  we  but  too  surely  shortening, 
even  if  not  cutting,  the  very  thread  of  life,  and 
further,   we  are  breaking  the^gighth  command-      Q 
ment ;  for  unjustly    to    detract  from  a   man  s 


36  7%?  Jewish  Armoury. 

merit  or  honour  and  lower  him  in  the  world's 
esteem  through  untruthful  statements  orcalumny, 
is  simply  to  "steal"  from  "our  neighbour"  that 
which  we  never  afterwards  can  fully  restore,  or 
for  which  it  is  impossible  to  make  adequate 
reparation  even  by  a  formal  open  recantation. 

Then  as  to  the  seventh  commandment,  what 
/.do  the  annals  of  the  Divorce  Court  prove  but 
the  constant  transgression  of  the  Divine  in- 
junction forbidding  conjugal  infidelity,  and  that 
the  Law  given  "  for  our  good  always  "  being 
once  broken  and  a  breach  made  in  the  family 
circle,  misery  and  disgrace  speedily  follow.  And 
truly,  if  we  love  not  the  one  who  is  nearest  and 
should  be  dearest  to  us,  how  may  we  hope  to 
"  love  the  stranger  "  or  any  denizen  of  the  outer 
world  whether  a  "  neighbour  "  or  an  "  alien  "  ^ 

The  eighth  commandment  in  its  broad  signi- 
fication needs  no  special  remarks  here,  since 
only  the  utterly  worthless  and  abandoned  are 
capable  of  the  act  of  stealing  ;  but  as  regards 
the  many  deceptions  generally  termed  "  tricks 
of  the  trade,"  which  are  most  certainly  a  species 
of  theft,  we  shall  treat  of  them  when  consider- 
ing the  ordinance  that  emphatically  denounces 
and  prohibits  the  use  of  "  false  weights  and 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  37 

V 


measures."       Again,    what   could   be  more   at 
variance  with  the  injunction  to  love  our  fellow- 


man  than  to  break  the  ninth  commandment,  and 
"  bear  false  witness  against  our  neighbour,"  for 
to  do  so  clearly  betokens  some  sinister  motive, 
a  cruel  animosity  and  rancorous  feeling  that 
nothing  could  justify,  while  it  also  shows  a 
criminal  perversity  in  daring  to  disregard  the 
third  commandment  and  "  take  God's  name  in 
vain."  But  all  further  allusion  to  so  heinous,  so 
iniquitous  a  violation  of  a  solemn  duty  and 
sacred  obligation  is  here  quite  unnecessary, 
since  every-day  experience  amply  demonstrates 
that  honour  and  truth  are  the  pillars  on  which 
depend  and  rest  the  well-being  of  the  entire 
social  fabric  ;  withdraw  these  supports  to  moral 
rectitude  and  assuredly  all  would  soon  be  utter 
chaos. 

Finally,  in  regard  to  the  tenth  commandment, 
it  is  evident  that  by  no  possibility  could  we 
violate  the  solemn  injunction,  not  to  covet  any 
possession  which  belongs  to  another,  if  we  had 
at  heart  the  sublime  precept  to  "  love  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself."  It  is  indeed  pure  selfishness 
which  produces  that  inordinate  desire,  that  rest- 
less craving  which  begins  in  covetousness  and 


38  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

but  too  surely  ends  in  envy  and  discontent,  the 
two  greatest  and  most  insidious  foes  to  all  en- 
joyment, all  happiness.  That  a  disregard  of 
this  warning  against  cupidity  and  unruly 
passions  will  involve  the  very  worst  con- 
sequences is  only  too  certain,  while  it  cannot 
fail  to  lead  to  the  infraction  of  other  Divine 
ordinances  promulgated  at  Sinai. 

Now  although  the  last  five  prohibitory  com- 
mandments taken  in  conjunction  with  the  grand 
Mosaic  precept  to  "  love  thy  neighbour  as  thy- 
self" indicate  and  define,  with  the  most 
marvellous  simplicity  and  clearness,  the  high 
moral  duties  which  are  incumbent  on  man  in 
relation  to  his  fellow-man,  nevertheless  there 
are  further  numerous  supplementary  injunctions 
to  be  found  in  the  Pentateuch  which  breathe 
alike  the  purest  spirit  of  philanthropy  and 
brotherly  love,  and  thence  being  in  perfect,  in 
absolute  harmony  with  the  ennobling  teachings 
of  the  Decalogue,  give  them  yet  additional  force: 
and  significance.'" 


°  It  is  truly  astonishing  that  any  one  conversant 
with  the  ethical  teachings  of  the  Great  Sovereign,  can 
overlook  the  fact  that  the  sublime  injunction  to  "  love  thy 
.neighbour  (fellow  creature)  as  thyself"  was  not  only 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  39 

And  to  demonstrate  this  we  will  now  cite 
some  few  of  the  many  beneficial  laws  and 
statutes  which  the  Omniscient,  in  His  infinite 
love  and  mercy,  ordained  and  declared  obliga- 
tory on  each  of  His  creatures  as  being  all- 
powerful  to  promote  and  ultimately  ensure  in- 
dividual happiness  and  universal  good. 

Directing  our  attention,  firstly,  to  those  ordi- 
nances which  bear  the  closest  affinity  to  the 
fundamental  principle  of  action  inculcated  in 
the  Mosaic  code  to  love  our  fellow-creature, 
whether  he  be  native  born  or  an  alien,  the 
following  verses  may  well  be  selected  for  con- 
sideration :  Ex.  ch.  23,  v.  i.,  "Thou  shah  not 
raise  a  false  report ;  put  not  thine  hand  with 
the  wicked  to  be  an  unrighteous  witness,"  and 
Lev.  ch.  19,  v.  xvi.,  "  Thou  shalt  not  go  up  and 
down  as  a  tale-bearer  among  thy  people  ;"  thus 
showing  that  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  are 
we  to  asperse  or  undermine  the  reputation 

inculcated  by  Moses,  but  was  made  the  cardinal  doctrine, 
the  very  essence  of  his  moral  code.  Nevertheless,  as 
only  too  many  men  of  another  creed,  through  a  strange 
fatuity  or  blindness,  credit  the  New  Testament  with  being 
the  first  exponent  of  this  precept,  it  behoves  the  Jew  not 
to  permit  this  erroneous  impression  to  pass  unchallenged, 
but  ever  seek  to  give  expression  to  this  fundamental 
principle  of  Mosaicism  both  by  word  and  deed. 


40  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

of  any  one,  a  proceeding  which  can  only  be 
dictated  by  rancour,  revenge,  or  some  other  evil 
passion,  and  which  is  totally  at  variance  with 
the  sublime  command  to  "  love  thy  neighbour 
as  thyself."  Then  we  read  in  Lev.  ch.  24,  v.  xxii., 
"  Ye  shall  have  one  manner  of  law  as  well  for 
the  stranger  as  for  one  of  your  own  country," 
and  the  tenor  of  this  command  is  still  more 
emphatically  enjoined  in  Num.  ch.  15,  v.  xv-xvi., 
"  One  ordinance  shall  be  both  for  you  and  also 
for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  with  you,  an 
ordinance  for  ever  in  your  generations  ;  as  ye 
are,  so  shall  the  stranger  be  before  the  Lord. 
One  law  and  one  manner  shall  be  for  you  and 
the  stranger  that  sojourneth  with  you ;"  also 
in  Ex.  ch.  22,  v.  xxi.,  "  Thou  shalt  not  vex  a 
stranger  or  oppress  him  ;  ye  shall  not  afflict  any 
wictow  or  fatherless  child,"  thus  coupling  the 
stranger  with  the  unprotected  and  poor  of  the 
land.  And  again  in  Deut.  ch.  24,  v.  xiv., 
"  Thou  shalt  not  oppress  a  hired  servant, 
whether  he  be  one  of  thy  brethren  or  a 
stranger."  And  this  is  also  enjoined  in  the 
fourth  commandment,  wherein  it  is  decreed  that 
"  the  stranger  "  should  do  no  manner  of  work 
on  the  Sabbath  day.  Again  in  Deut.  ch.  15 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  41 

v.  xi.,  "  Thou  shall  open  thy  hand  wide  unto 
thy  brother  and  to  the  needy,"  here  likewise  in- 
ferring  the  stranger,  as  also  in  the  following 
verse,  "Lev.  ch.  19,  v.  xiii.,  "The  wages  of 
him  that  is  hired"  (mostly  prisoners  of  war, 
and  therefore  aliens)  "  shall  not  abide  with  thee 
all  night  until  the  morning,"  and  this  is  repeated 
in  Lev.  ch.  25,  v.  xxxv.,  "  If  thy  brother  be 
waxen  poor  and  fallen  into  decay,  then  thou  shalt 
relieve  him  ;  yea,  though  he  be  a  stranger  or  a 
sojourner  ;  that  he  may  live  with  thee ;"  and 
again  in  Deut.  ch.  24,  v.  xvii.,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  pervert  the  judgment  of  the  stranger,  nor 
of  the  fatherless,  nor  take  a  widow's  raiment  to 
pledge."  Nor  is  the  respect  due  to  old  age 
ignored,  for  wre  are  bidden  in  Lev.  19,  v.  xxxii., 
to  "  rise  up  before  the  hoary  head  and  honor 
the  face  of  the  old  man." 

And  now  we  would  revert  more  particularly 
to  some  few  of  the  admirable  and  eminently 
practical  laws  which  have  for  object  to  hold 
man  to  the  performance  of  all  that  is  strictly 
just  and  honourable  in  his  dealings  with  his 
fellow-man,  and  to  restrain  him  from  the  indul- 
gence of  that  cupidity  or  individual  greed  of 
gain  which  will  surely  lead  to  misery  and  to 


42  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

shame.  To  select  a  few  of  the  most  important, 
we  begin  with  the  command  in  Lev.  ch.  19, 
v.  xxxv.,  "  Thou  shalt  do  no  unrighteousness," 
and  to  make  this  injunction  the  more  emphatic, 
the  more  stringent,  the  words  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy 
God  "  are  added.  And  next,  Lev.  ch.  9,  v.  xi., 
"  Thou  shalt  not  deal  falsely  one  with  another  ; 
thou  shalt  not  defraud  thy  neighbour."  Again, 
Lev.  ch.  25,  v.  xiv.,  "If  thou  sell  ought  unto 
thy  neighbour,  or  buyest  ought  of  thy  neigh- 
bour's hand,  ye  shall  not  oppress  one  another." 
Also  in  Deut.  ch.  25,  v.  xiii.,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
have  in  thy  bag  divers  weights,  a  great  and  a 
small,  thou  shalt  not  have  in  thy  house  divers 
measures,  a  great  and  a  small,  but  thou  shalt 
have  a  perfect  and  just  weight,  a  perfect  and 
just  measure  shalt  thou  have.".  That  these  laws 

*- 

are  frequently  evaded  or  ignored  even  in  the 
present  advanced  state  of  civilisation,  is  only 
too  patent  to  those  who  give  due  heed  to  the 
several  reprehensible  methods  adopted  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  additional  and  illegitimate 
profits  through  what  has  been  termed  "  tricks 
of  the  trade."  The  sensational  mode  of  puffing 
wares  for  sale,  the  deception  practised  by  means 
of  ticketing  up  apparently  low  and  attractive 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  43 

prices,  indistinct  figures  being  coupled  with 
other  dark  ones,  the  adulteration  of  food,  now 
so  loudly  denounced,  also  the  system  of  over- 
charging by  means  of  selling  one  specified 
quality  and  quantity,  whilst  substituting  them 
and  really  delivering  a  lesser  measurement  or 
an  inferior  article,  together  with  other  hardly 
less  culpable  artifices,  better  concealed,  perhaps,, 
but  all  in  contravention  to  that  fairness  and 
honesty  which  is  so  emphatically  enjoined  in 
the  Heaven-given  code.  Again  we  are  com- 
manded in  the  following  injunction  not  to  be 
extortionate  or  to  press  hard  upon  such  of  our 
fellow  men  as  need  our  assistance,  Ex.  ch.  22, 
v.  xxv.,  "If  thou  lend  money  to  any  of  my 
people  that  is  poor,  thou  shalt  not  be  to  him  as 
a  usurer,  neither  shalt  thou  lay  upon  him  usury. 
If  thou  at  all  take  thy  neighbour's  raiment  to 
pledge,  thou  shalt  deliver  it  unto  him  by  that 
the  sun  goeth  down;"  and  in  Lev.  ch.  25, 
v.  xxxvii.,  "  Thou  shalt  not  give  unto  thy 
brother  if  he  be  waxen  poor,  yea,  though  he 
be  a  stranger  or  a  sojourner,  thy  money  upon 
nsnry  nor  lend  him  thy  victuals  for  increase." 
And  be  it  here  observed  in  reference  to  this 
latter  subject,  that  the  true  interpretation  of  the 


44  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

Hebrew  word  is  not  "  usury  "  but  "  interest,"  or 
a  fair  compensation  for  some  voluntary  loan 
(see  Dr.  H.  Adler's  admirable  pamphlet  on 
"  Usury "),  and  even  this  was  only  to  be  per- 
mitted when  it  was  advanced  for  mercantile 
purposes.  This  subject,  however,  needs  no 
further  comment  here,  since  it  will  again  have 
attention  in  the  following  chapter. 

But  the  Mosaic  system  goes  much  further 
than  the  inculcation  of  mere  fairness  and 
honesty  of  purpose  in  all  our  dealings,  for 
therein  we  find  the  most  distinct,  the  most 
emphatic  call  on  our  active,  practical  bene- 
volence. We  are  not  simply  enjoined  to  do 
our  fellow-man  no  wrong,  we  are  bidden  to 
do  him  positive  good.  Thus  it  is  commanded 
to  give  in  charity  one-tenth  of  the  wealth  with 
which  we  have  been  blessed.  Deut.  ch.  14. 
v.  xxxviii.,  "At  the  end  of  three  years  thou 
shalt  bring  forth  all  the  tithe  of  thine  increase, 
and  the  Levite  and  the  stranger,  and  the  father- 
less, and  the  widow,  shall  come  and  shall  eat  and 
be  satisfied."  And  again,  v.  xxii.,  "  Thou  shalt 
truly  tithe  all  the  increase  of  thy  seed,  that  the 
field  bringeth  forth  year  by  year,  that  thou 
mayest  learn  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God  always," 


TJie  Jewish  Armoury.  45 

and  were  this  Divine  behest  duly  carried  out  in 
practice,  penury  with  its  too  frequent  concomi- 
tants, misery  and  crime,  would  be  almost  un- 
known !  The  sublime  institution  of  the 
Sabbatical  year  had  the  same  purpose,  serving- 
to  lessen  destitution  and  preclude  oppressive 
exactions.  All  who  had  fallen  might  hope  to 
regain  their  high  estate  and  become  once  more 
independent.  Alienation  of  property  in  per- 
petuity was  rendered  impossible,  while  it  also 
entailed  the  remission  of  debts  owing  by  the 
poor  and  the  manumission  of  the  slave.  And 
here  are  the  several  injunctions  in  regard  to  its 
observance.  Ex.  ch.  23,  v.  x.,  "  Six  years  thou 
shalt  sow  thy  land,  and  shalt  gather  in  the 
fruits  thereof,  but  the  seventh  year  thou  shalt 
let  it  rest  and  lie  still,  that  the  poor  of  thy 
people  may  eat,  and  what  they  leave  the  beasts 
of  the  field  shall  eat."  This  is  repeated  again 
and  again  in  Leviticus,  with  the  following- 
addition,  at  ch.  23,  v.  xxii.,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
gather  any  gleaning  of  thy  harvest  :  thou  shalt 
leave  them  unto  the  poor  and  to  the  stranger  ;  I 
am  the  Lord  your  God."  Further,  we  have  in 
Deut.  ch.  15,  v.  i.,  "  At  the  end  of  every  seven 
years  thou  shalt  make  a  release ;  every  creditor 


46  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


that  lendeth  ought  unto  his  neighbour  shall  re- 
lease it,  he  shall  not  exact  it."  And  again, 
Lev.  ch.  25,  v.  viii.,  "  Thou  shalt  number  seven 
sabbaths  of  years  unto  thee,  seven  times  seven 
years,  and  ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year  and 
proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land,  it  shall 
be  a  jubilee  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  return  every 
man  unto  his  possession"  Then  again,  what 
could  possibly  be  more  mild,  more  beneficent, 
than  the  following  ordinances  which  inculcate 
true  charity,  forbearance,  sympathy  and  love  ? 
Deut.  ch.  15,  v.  viii.,  "Thou  shalt  not  harden 
thy  heart,  nor  shut  thine  hand  from  thy  poor 
brother,  but  thou  shalt  open  thy  hand  wide  unto 
him,  and  shall  surely  lend  him  sufficient  for  his 
need  in  that  which  he  wanteth  ;"  and  this  is  re- 
peated at  v.  xi.,  "  Thou  shalt  open  thy  hand 
wide  unto  thy  brother,  to  the  poor  and  to  the 
needy  in  the  land,"  implying  the  stranger. 
Again  in  Lev.  ch.  25,  v.  xiv.,  "  If  thou  sell 
ought  unto  thy  neighbour,  or  buyest  ought  of 
thy  neighbour's  hand,  ye  shall  not  oppress  one 
another."  Then  in  regard  to  the  Temple 
worship,  it  is  ordained,  Deut.  ch.  18,  v.  iv.,  that 
"The  first  fruits  also  of  thy  corn,  of  thy  wine,  and 
of  thy  oil,  and  the  first  of  the  fleece  of  thy 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  47 

sheep,  shalt  thou  give  to  the  Levite,  Thou  shalt 
be  perfect  with  the  Lord  thy  God."  Further, 
there  is  a  species  of  fairness  due  even  to  dumb 
animals  which  has  not  been  overlooked,  and 
various  are  the  injunctions  in  the  Pentateuch 
inculcating  their  kindly  treatment.  Merciful 
indeed  are  the  commands,  Lev.  ch.  22,  v.  xxviii., 
"  Whether  it  be  cow  or  ewe,  ye  shall  not  kill  it 
and  her  young  both  in  one  day,"  and  to  like 
effect,  Ex.  ch.  34, ' v.  xxvi.,  "Thou  shalt  not 
seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother's  milk."  Again, 
Deut.  ch.  22,  v.  iv.,  "  Thou  shalt  not  see  thy 
brother's  ass  or  his  ox  fall  down  by  the  way  an  J 
hide  thyself  from  them."  And  v.  x.,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  plow  with  an  ox  and  an  ass  together." 
Also,  ch.  25,  v.  iv.,  "Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the 
ox  when  he  treadeth  out  the  corn."  Then  we 
are  bidden  to  give  rest  to  the  beast  of  burden 
on  the  Sabbath  day  :  to  slaughter  the  animals 
granted  us  for  food  in  tTTe  speediest  9hd  most 
merciful  manner :  to  let  the  poor  bird  go  free  : 
whilst  other  ordinances,  equally  beneficent,  all 
incontrovertibly  prove  that  to  compassionate  the 
brute  creation  is  the  fixed  law,  the  essential 
principle  of  Judaism. 

We  will  now  conclude  with  the  consideration 


48  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

of  those  injunctions  which  seem  to  appeal  more 
directly  to  the  individual  than  to  the  whole 
social  body,  but  which  are  as  surely  calculated 
to  ensure  its  permanent  benefit  as  they  are  to 
secure  the  well-being  of  each  member  con- 
stituting it.  Among  the  most  important  com- 
mands assuredly  rank  those  which  inculcate  the 
duty  of  parents  to  instruct  their  offspring  and 
keep  God's  laws  constantly  before  them.  We 
read  in  Deut.  ch.  n,  v.  xix.,  "Ye  shall  teach 
them  (these  my  words)  to  your  children, 
speaking  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine 
house  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way," 
implying,  indeed,  on  every  suitable  occasion. 
A  youth  thus  brought  up  can  hardly  fail  to 
become  a  good  man  and  a  blessing  to  the 
parents  who  have  trained  him  in  this  pious 
manner.  The  ordinances  for  the  observance  of 
the  Festivals  we  find  in  Lev.  ch.  23,  z/.vii.," These 
are  the  feasts  of  the  Lord,  even  holy  convocations, 
ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein,"  again  re- 
peated in  Numbers  ch.  28,  v.  xviii.,  and  well 
calculated  are  they  not  only  to  promote  social 
and  friendly  intercourse,  but  also  to  uproot  the 
seeds  of  discord  and  strife,  while  tending  to 
draw  us  nearer  to  God,  either  through  a  sense 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  49 

of  gratitude  for  memorable  mercies  vouchsafed 
in  the  long,  long  past,  or  the  fulfilment  of  some 
golden  hope,  some  heavenly-promised  boon. 
And  the  above  remark  is  peculiarly  applicable 
to  the  solemn  day  of  Atonement,  so  beautiful 
in  its  very  simplicity.  It  tells  us  we  must  for- 
give before  we  may  hope  to  be  forgiven,  and 
were  this  consideration  fully  recognized,  no 
feud,  no  quarrel  could  last  more  than  one  year, 
for  this  hallowed  day  would  bring  healing  on 
its  wings,  and  whilst  asking  God's  pardon  with 
heartfelt  contrition,  no  unkind  feelings  towards 
a  fellow  creature  would  harbour  in  our  breasts ; 
past  enmity  and  ill-will  would  surely  sink  back 
into  oblivion. 

It  can  hardly  be  necessary  here  to  make 
more  than  a  passing  allusion  to  the  statutes 
concerning  abstinence  from  certain  food  ;  take 
for  example  the  following:  Lev.  ch.  11,27.  iv.,  re- 
peated at  Deut.  ch.  14,  v.  iii.,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
eat  any  abominable  thing.  They  that  chew  the 
cud  but  divide  not  the  hoof  are  unclean  unto 
you,  andthe^SMdae^  ye  shall  not  eat  of  their 


°  It  can  but  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  while  many  of 
the  ablest  scientific  men  of  the  day  hold  in  high  estima- 
tion the  sanitary  laws  of  Moses  and  give  free  expression 
to  their  opinion,  nevertheless  they  seem  in  a  great 

E 


50  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


flesh.  Of  all  clean  birds  ye  may  eat,  but 
every  creeping  thing  is  unclean  unto  you,"  also 
in  Ex.  ch.  22,  v.  xxxi,,  "Ye  shall  be  holy  unto 
me  ;  neither  shall  ye  eat  any  flesh  that  is  torn 
of  beasts  in  the  field,"  since  it  has  been  proved 
to  demonstration  that  the  dietary  laws  of  Moses 
have  been  fruitful  of  good  to  the  people  for 
whom  they  were  especially  instituted,  while  the 

measure  to  overlook  or  disregard  those  dietary  prohibi- 
tions which  most  certainly  have  no  less  a  claim  to  their 
especial  notice  and  appreciation.  All  who  have  given 
their  attention  to  this  subject  will  assuredly  certify  that 
they  who  partake  freely  of  any  food  pronounced  unclean 
by  the  Mosaic  statutes  become  subject  to  many  of  the 
most  grievous  diseases  which  afflict  humanity.  But  if  we 
might  be  permitted  to  single  out  one  unclean  animal 
which  demonstrates  more  clearly  than  another  how  im- 
portant is  the  observance  of  the  prohibitory  laws  in 
regard  to  food,  we  should  not  hesitate  to  name  the  hog, 
which  ever  wallowing  in  the  mire,  rejects  no  refuse,  how- 
soever foul  or  impure,  in  the  endeavour  to  satiate  its  gross 
I  and  gluttonous  appetite,  and  thence  will  not  unfre- 
quently  be  found  to  generate  those  subtle  and  venomous 
juices  which  taint  its  flesh  and  render  it  totally  unfit  for 
human  consumption.  To  instance  how  deadly  poisonous 
the  flesh  of  the  swine  may  become,  we  here  give  an  out- 
/  line  of  a  sad  and  painful  occurrence  which  was  graphically 

,  described  quite  recently  by  a  trustworthy  daily  paper. 

On  board  the  barque a  cask  of  pork  was  opened, 

(, .and  a  portion  was  boiled  into  soup,  of  which  fourteen 

•sailors  partook,  all  of  whom  soon  became  seriously  ill 
and  grew  worse  day  by  day,  till  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight, 

^ after  much  suffering,  some  went  raving  mad  and  others 

flied  in  horrible  agony,  whilst  four  alone  survived,  and 

/  even  their  health  was  materially  undermined. 

>> 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  51 


infraction  of  them  has  at  all  times  been  preg- 
nant with  evil  consequences.  Truly,  when  it 
is  considered  that  the  Omniscient,  in  His  good- 
ness, not  only  has  declared  what  food  is  clean, 
therefore  wholesome  and  calculated  to  promote 
health  and  strength,  but  has  also  specified  what 
is  unclean,  or  gross  and  pernicious  alike  to 
physical  and  mental  vigour,  it  is  surprising  that 
any  single  individual  should  run  counter  to  the 
explicit  command  of  God  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  and  partake  of  those  species  of  diet 
which  have  been  so  clearly,  so  strictly  forbidden. 
But  these  hygienic  laws  even  serve  yet  another 
beneficial  purpose,  since  they  impose  a  restraint 
on  the  appetite.  Abstinence  from  certain 
-\  classes  of  food  greatly  tends  to  give  a  power  of 
control  over  our  sensual  nature,  and  which,  if 
only  turned  to  good  account,  will  enable  us  to 
/  curb  all  gluttonous  propensities  and  any  undue 
^  craving  after  luxuries. 

The  laws  referring  to  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant ceremonial  rites  also  need  but  brief 
comment,  since  no  true  Israelite  could  by  any 
possibility  neglect  their  observance.  Regarding, 
firstly,  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  it  will  suffice  to 
draw  attention  to  what  an  able  writer  of  the 


52  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

Christian  faith  has  said  on  the  subject,  and  for 
which  reference  may  be  made  to  the  Lancet  of 
the  1 6th  January,  1875,  where  it  is  proved  to 
demonstration  that  the  observance  of  this 
Divine  injunction  is  ever  pregnant  with  the 
most  sanitary  and  salutary  effects.  As  to  the 
Mezuzots  to  be  placed  on  the  door-posts  as  com- 
Tnanded  in  Deut.  ch.  i,  v.  xx.,  and  the  Tsisith 
to  be  worn  on  the  person  according  to  the  com- 
mand in  Numbers  ch.  15,  v.  xxxviii.,  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  they  are  simply  signs  to 
meet  our  gaze  and  keep  us  constantly  in  re- 
membrance of  God  and  His  holy  laws,  or  in 
other  words,  outward  aids  to  draw  us  to  pious 
reflection  at  suitable  intervals,  and  most  cer- 
tainly possessing  no  other  talismanic  virtue. 
Not  a  single  rite  commanded  from  on  High 
suggests  the  slightest  notion  of  the  existence 
of  any  supernatural  power,  or  in  the  remotest 
degree  contains  aught  of  mysticism  ;  each  one 
has  solely  for  object  to  assist  the  worship  of  the 
heart,  while  under  no  possible  circumstance 
are  they  intended  to  weaken  or  supercede  it. 

We  now  come  to  the  subject  of  the  priests' 
dress,  and  clearly  are  the  proper  sacerdotal 
habiliments  specified  in  the  28th  chapter  of 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  53 

Exodus.  That  the  description  of  special  vest- 
ments to  be  worn  by  ministers  should  thus  be 
distinctly  defined  proves  how  highly  important 
it  is  that  they  who  officiate  in  a  Temple  of 
worship  should  be  above  the  vanity  which 
indulges  in  decorations  according  to  individual 
•caprice,  and  through  so  questionable  a  medium 
seeks  to  allure,  if  not  impose  upon,  the  shallow- 
minded  congregants.  At  no  moment  could  the 
beneficial  effects  of  these  directions  be  more 
apparent  than  at  the  present  epoch,  when  ritual- 
ism is  rampant,  and  fine  attire,  parade  and 
change  in  forms  of  garments  seem  no  less 
attractive  than  Divine  worship  itself.  Were 
there  one  specified  attire  for  clergymen  of  all 
denominations,  as  was  the  case  in  the  Jewish 
Temple,  much  acrimony  would  be  avoided,  and 
all  dissent  on  that  score  hushed  to  rest. 

The  law  which  we  are  now  about  to  consider 
is  clearly  intended  to  prevent  a  great  social 
evil,  which  is  only  too  intimately  associated  with 
immorality,  if  not  with  positive  crime.  It  is  to 
be  found  in  Deut.  ch.  22,  v.  v. — "The  woman 
shall  not  wear  that  which  pertaineth  unto  a 
man,  neither  shall  a  man  put  on  a  woman's 
garment,  for  all  that  do  so  are  abomination 


54  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


unto  the  Lord."  Assuredly  God's  commands 
may  not  be  infringed  with  impunity,  and  those 
persons  who  disregard  the  injunction  which  for- 
bids the  wearing  of  an  apparel  appropriated 
to  a  different  sex,  as  is  only  too  frequently  the 
practice  in  travesties  during  the  Carnival,  in 
the  casinos  in  foreign  lands,  and  even  in  fancy 
dress  balls  in  our  own  country,  oftentimes  pay  a 
heavy  penalty  and  certainly  incur  the  risk  of 
obloquy  and  shame. 

To  show  how  admirably  adapted  to  every 
situation  and  relation  of  life  are  even  the  least 
important  of  the  Mosaic  laws,  and  how  benefi- 
cent are  their  intent,  we  would  quote  from 
Deut.  ch.  24,  v.  v. — "When  a  man  hath  taken  a 
new  wife,  he  shall  not  go  out  to  war,  but  he 
shall  be  free  at  home  one  year  and  shall  cheer 
up  his  wife  which  he  hath  taken,"  for  here  we 
see  that  even  a  call  to  arms  must  not  be 
suffered  to  destroy  domestic  happiness.  Many, 
many  a  youthful  widow  in  latter  ages  must  have 
bemoaned  the  abandonment  of  an  usage  which 
had  been  directly  commanded  from  on  High. 

Having  now  briefly  passed  in  review  some  of 
the  most  important  precepts  found  in  the  Pen- 
tateuch, it  only  remains  to  show  how  they  may 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  55 


be  most  surely  carried  into  practice,  and  how 
the  injunction  in  Deut.  ch.  19,  v.  iv.,  "Ye  shall 
walk  after  the  Lord  thy  God  and  keep  his 
ordinances  and  fear  Him,  and  serve  Him,"  can 
be  most  easily  made  the  rule  of  life.  And 
assuredly  these  propositions  may  be  concisely 
answered  in  the  words  of  one  command,  truly 
the  culminating  point  of  Judaism — Deut.  ch.  6, 
v.  v. — "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  with  all  thy 
heart,"  for  then  shall  we  with  all  our  "  soul  and 
might"  seek  to  fulfil  each  Divine  behest,  and 
thus  make  ourselves  worthy  of  the  love  of  Him 
who  graciously  gave  us  His  Holy  law  "  for  our 
good  always." 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  it  may  fairly  be 
asked  if  it  is  possible  for  the  human  mind  to 
conceive  that  aught  conducive  to  the  well-being 
of  man  is  lacking  in  that  imperishable,  that  sub- 
lime code  of  the  Israelite  which  we  have  had 
under  consideration.  Are  not  benevolence, 
true  philanthropy,  meekness  of  temper,  forbear- 
ance, honesty,  and  every  exalted  virtue  clearly 
enjoined  therein,  while  is  not  every  defect  of 
character,  every  crime  and  all  that  would  tend 
to  vice  and  profligacy  fully  and  clearly  repre- 
hended and  forbidden  ?  Embracing  all  that 


56  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

constitutes  morality  and  true  piety,  the  Mosaic 
Code  needed  indeed  but  God's  seal  to  establish 
and  confirm  its  perfection,  which  He,  in  His 
Supreme  love  towards  His  fallible  creatures, 
graciously  bestowed  in  the  following  explicit 
declaration — Deut.  ch.  30,  v.  xx. — "  For  it  (the 
law)  is  thy  very  life." 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  57 


CHAPTER    III. 

Passing  onwards  from  those  laws  which  are 
pre-eminently  distinguished  for  their  sublime 
morality  and  practical  utility,  we  will  now  give 
our  attention  to  others  which  seem  less  perfect, 
and  to  which  exception  has  been  taken  on  the 
score  that  though  they  might  have  been  of 
service  at  the  time  of  their  promulgation, 
and  possibly  were  well-suited  for  a  people  just 
released  from  bondage,  they  are  ill-adapted  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  a  civilized  community  at 
the  present  day !  But  is  this  really  so  ? 
Assuredly  not.  If  indeed  the  Mosaic  Code  of 
laws  had  emanated  from  fallible  man,  then  we 
might  readily  believe  that  some  imperfections 
would  be  discoverable  therein,  and  that,  like 
most  human  institutions,  it  could  simply  sub- 
serve a  useful  purpose  in  regard  to  some 
especial  community  or  nation,  and  this  for  a 
limited  time  only.  But  when  it  is  considered 
that  each  law,  each  injunction  was  given  direct 
from  Heaven,  must  not  that  man  be  pre- 


58  The  Jewish  Armoury, 

sumptuous  indeed,  or  wilfully  blind,  who  dares 
question  either  their  utility  or  practicability,  who 
will  set  bounds  to  their  duration  or  hold  in  low 
estimation  any  one  ordinance,  any  one  command 
which  has  proceeded  from  Omniscience  ?  Yet 
there  are  to  be  found  very  many  cavillers,  who 
unhesitatingly  aver  that  some  of  those  laws  of 
Divine  origin  are  not  only  Draconic,  but  more- 
over are  tyrannical  and  of  cruel  intent ! 

To  disprove  such  erroneous  and  rash  asser- 
tions will  now  be  our  aim,  and  we  hope  forthwith 
to  show  that  even  those  few  laws  which  appear 
to  admit  of  a  less  satisfactory  interpretation  than 
the  others,  still  bear  the  stamp  of  excellence,  and 
that  they  only  need  a  thoughtful  and  un- 
prejudiced consideration  to  draw  us  to  this 
conclusion. 

Referring  firstly  to  the  several  statutes  in  the 
Mosaic  Code  that  relate  to  the  punishment 
of  death  for  certain  grave  offences  and  crimes, 
and  which  have  been  most  unjustly  designated 
harsh  and  vindictive  by  many  men  of  unreflect- 
ing or  prejudiced  minds,  it  will  simply  be 
necessary  to  disprove  such  unfounded  allega- 
tions by  the  plainest  facts  drawn  from  the  records 
of  History.  These,  indeed,  do  far  more,  since 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  59 

clearly  testifying  to  the  benefits  which  they 
conferred  by  promoting  individual  happiness, 
social  well-being  and  public  morality.  And 
once  again  we  would  repeat  that  the  certain 
knowledge  that  those  laws  directly  emanated 
from  the  One  Sole  Fount  of  infinite  love  and 
perfection,  should  of  itself  suffice  to  enforce  the 
conviction  that  they  contain  the  germs  of  good 
to  human  kind,  and  assuredly  none  but  the 
narrow  and  shallow-minded,  who  would  dwarf 
all  to  the  standard  of  their  own  defective  or  dis- 
torted vision,  can  fail  to  discern  that  they  are 
characterized  by  wisdom,  mercy  and  justice. 

Now  be  it  observed  in  the  first  place  that  the 
crimes  to  which  are  attached  the  penalty  of 
death,  were  those  that  had  been  solemnly 
denounced  from  Sinai,  and  if  suffered  to  be  per- 
petrated with  impunity,  great  demoralization 
must  have  infallibly  followed,  involving  a 
serious  disorganization  in  the  entire  community. 
We  may  instance  the  case  of  an  undutiful  and 
obdurate  son,  who,  dead  to  filial  affection  and 
regardless  of  the  Fifth  Commandment  and  the 
voice  of  conscience,  would  surely  have  lost  every 
spark  of  goodness  by  the  time  of  reaching  man- 
hood but  for  the  stern,  yet  salutary,  punishment 


o  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

which  might  be  lawfully  enforced  to  arrest 
him  in  his  wilful  course.  We  may  reasonably 
infer  that  fear  of  a  violent  and  ignominious 
-death  proved  an  efficient  deterrent,  since  we  find 
no  one  instance  in  the  pages  of  either  sacred  or 
profane  Jewish  History  of  a  son  having  forfeited 
his  life  through  running  counter  to  the  will  of  his 
parent.  Here,  then,  we  have  ample  ground  for 
believing  that  to  the  very  stringency  of  the 
command  at  Deut.  ch.  21,  v.  xxi.,  "All  the  men 
of  his  city  shall  stone  him  with  stones,  that  he 
die ;  so  shalt  thou  put  evil  away  from  among 
you,  and  all  Israel  shall  hear  and  fear,"  was  due 
the  fact  of  its  never  having  been  carried  out  in 
practice,  and  therefore  it  must  have  been,  like 
every  one  of  God's  laws,  all  powerful  for  good. 
But  the  very  manner  of  the  threatened  death, 
as  well  as  the  circumstances  under  which  it  had 
to  be  put  in  execution,  was  of  itself  well 
calculated  to  cure  even  the  most  heartless  and 
rebellious  youth.  It  would  further  have  served 
as  an  example  and  a  warning,  since  it  was  at 
the  hands  of  the  people  that  the  penalty  of  the 
law  was  to  be  carried  out,  thus  enabling  them 
publicly  to  manifest  their  utter  abhorrence  of  all 
insubordination  to  parental  authority. 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  61 

The  infraction  of  the  sixth  commandment, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  was  also  punishable  with 
death,  as  we  read  in  Num.  ch.  35,  v.  xvi.,  "And 
if  he  smite  him  with  an  instrument  of  iron,  or 
with  throwing  a  stone  so  that  he  die,  he  is  a 
murderer  ;  the  murderer  shall  surely  be  put  to 
death."  Again,  in  Lev.  ch.  24,  v.  xvii.,  "And 
he  that  killeth  any  man  shall  surely  be  put  to 
death."  Human  life  was  to  be  held  sacred,  and 
no  one  dare,  under  any  possible  circumstance, 
take  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  or  could  with 
impunity  seek  to  deprive  a  fellow-creature  of 
this  heavenly-bestowed  gift.  Thence  Biblical 
history  makes  no  mention  of  duelling,  which 
till  lately  was  so  rife  in  many  a  civilised 
country,  and  unhappily  is  not  even  yet  extinct. 
The  code  of  honour  instituted  by  man  and 
instigated  by  a  false  sensibility  could  not  exist 
simultaneously  with  the  Divine  law,  which  was 
clearly  prohibitory  of  duelling,  since  its  enforce- 
ment ensured  the  death  of  the  victor  following 
close  on  that  of  his  victim.  Surely  no  human 
being  who  appreciates  the  gift  of  life,  and 
considers  it  criminal  to  stain  the  hand  with  the 
blood  of  a  fellow-mortal,  can  deem  that  law  too 
harsh  or  severe  which  restrains  the  man  who, 


62  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

in  his  blind  infatuation,  would  rashly  and 
culpably  take  what  no  earthly  power  can 
restore,  thereby  committing  a  crime  that  no 
after  repentance  can  efface  or  annul. 

Now  when  we  consider  next  the  painful, 
heartless  cases  which  even  in  the  present  day 
are  frequently  brought  before  the  Divorce 
Court,  it  might  well  be  asked,  would  such 
things  be,  if  the  seventh  commandment  was 
laid  to  heart,  and  the  following  injunctions  of 
the  same  character,  to  be  found  in  Num.  ch.  5, 
v.  xv.  to  xxiv.,  and  in  Lev.  ch.  18,  v.  xx.,  were 
yet  held  in  full  force  ?  Death  for  the  breach  of 
conjugal  fidelity  solemnly  promised  in  the  face 
of  Heaven  may  seem  a  severe  punishment,  but 
if  it  is  calculated  to  uphold  public  morality,  to 
save  many  a  household  from  a  load  of  misery 
and  shame,  and  keep  would-be  criminal  strag- 
glers in  the  path  of  virtue,  surely  it  fulfils  its 
wise  intent,  its  highly  moral  purpose.  And 
here  again  the  beneficial  result  is  practically 
manifested  in  the  fact  that  the  pages  of  Jewish 
history,  comprising  the  annals  of  long  centuries, 
have  no  such  blot  on  record,  except,  alas  !  the 
one  instance  only  too  memorable  in  the  Sacred 
Volume. 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


The  penalty  of  death  was  likewise  attached 
to  the  desecration  of  the  Sabbath,  which  was  a 
flagrant  sin,  since  it  involved  disobedience  to 
the  will  of  God,  as  expressly  set  forth  in  the 
Decalogue,  and  he  who  would  be  capable  of 
wilfully  acting  in  opposition  to  one  command  of 
the  Supreme,  would  surely  depart  from  the 
straight  line  of  duty  on  the  slightest  provoca- 
tion, and  violate  other  laws  which  were 
graciously  given  by  Omniscience  for  the  benefit 
of  all  mankind. 

Witchcraft,  to  which  the  spiritualism  of  the 
present  day  bears  only  too  close  an  affinity, 
was,  like  idolatrous  worship,  punishable  with 
death,  which  of  itself  plainly  shows  that  in  the 
sight  of  heaven  it  was  a  gross  abuse  of  man's 
free  will,  and,  if  left  unchecked,  would  most 
certainly  lead  to  every  species  of  superstition 
with  many  an  attendant  evil.  Here,  again, 
there  is  nothing  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
capital  punishment  for  the  infraction  of  the 
salutary  laws  prohibitory  of  witchcraft  and 
idolatry  was  ever  resorted  to,  indeed,  all  his- 
torical data  lead  to  the  very  reverse  inference, 
since  hardly  a  single  instance  of  condemnation 
for  any  one  of  the  above-mentioned  offences 


64  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

and  crimes  is  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  the 
Civil  Court  of  Judea,  whilst  it  is  clearly  stated 
by  trustworthy  writers  that  THAT  Sanhedrim  was 
deemed  sanguinary  which  passed  the  sentence 
of  death  once  in  seventy  years !  Does  not 
this  fact  of  itself  demonstrate  how  ripe  with 
good  fruits  were  the  Mosaic  laws,  which,  if 
theoretically  severe,  were  certainly  far  other- 
wise in  practice  ?  That  they  secured  the  desired 
effect  of  staying  the  wilful,  the  weak-minded, 
the  presumptous  in  their  rash  and  evil  course 
can  admit  of  no  reasonable  doubt,  and  this  was 
surely  due  in  no  small  degree  to  the  fear  of 
a  terrible  retribution.  Thus  by  a  strict  adher- 
ence to  the  Mosaic  laws  all  mal-practices,  all 
debauch,  violence  and  crime  were  arrested,  if 
not  altogether  extinguished  in  that  nation  which 
was  commanded  "  to  be  holy,  because  the  Lord 
thy  God  is  holy." 

But  other  causes  were  also  at  work  to  make 
the  punishment  of  death  a  rare  occurrence 
in  Judea,  and  to  these  it  may  be  well  to  refer 
before  dismissing  this  subject,  since  they  will 
serve  to  prove  not  only  that  leniency  has  ever 
been  a  high  and  notable  characteristic  of  the 
Mosaic  dispensation,  but  was  likewise  a  dis- 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  65 


tinguishing  trait  in  the  legislation  of  the 
Israelites  of  old.  And  to  set  these  forth  with 
lucidity  and  exactness,  it  will  simply  be  neces- 
sary to  give  some  few  extracts  from  a  work 
called  the  "Hebrew  Review,"""  edited  by  T. 
Theodores  ;  they  are  to  be  found  in  an  article 
entitled  "  Administration  of  Justice  among  the 
Jews,"  in  which  are  embodied  many  important 
statements  and  historical  facts  well  worthy  of 
perusal,  as  may  be  judged  by  the  following 
brief  quotations: — "  Every  part  of  judicial  pro- 
cedure in  the  Mosaic  law  is  founded  on  these 
three  principles — publicity  of  trials,  liberty  of 
defence  for  the  accused,  security  against  false 
testimony.  Hence  a  single  witness  counts  as 
nothing,  two  or  three  at  least  are  necessary 
to  establish  evidence.  The  witness  on  whose 
declaration  a  citizen  is  to  be  arraigned  must 
previously  be  conducted  before  the  priests  and 
judges,  and  there  take  a  solemn  oath  in  the 
name  of  the  Eternal,  that  his  statement  is  the 
truth.  The  trial  is  to  be  held  before  every 
member  of  the  community,  whence  false  testi- 
mony is  at  ever}-  instant  in  danger  of  being 
brought  to  light  by  some  one  of  the  surrounding 

0  Vol.  3,  page  8. 


66  77ie  Jewish  Armoury. 

"  persons.  Finally,  after  sentence  has  been 
passed,  the  leading  witness  is  the  first  whose 
hand  hurls  the  deadly  stone  against  the 
condemned  brother,  &c.  It  was  of  signal 
advantage  to  the  culprit  that  he  had  the  faculty 
of  being  tried  at  his  choice,  either  by  the 
council  of  his  own  city,  by  the  minor  council 
of  Jerusalem,  or  by  the  high  Sanhedrim.  By 
these  means  he  was  protected  against  the  fatal 
influence  which  local  prejudices  might,  in  many 
cases,  engender.  Great  was  the  fear  lest  aught 
but  the  purest  motives  of  equity  and  love  of 
justice,  could  guide  the  judge  who  stood  on 
any  point  of  intimacy,  or  was  at  variance  with 
the  contending  parties,  or  the  person  charged 
with  an  offence,  and  hence  the  extensive  latitude 
left  to  the  prisoner  in  the  choice  and  rejection 
of  the  arbiters  of  his  destiny."  Again  (at  page 
22),  "  The  depositions  of  the  witnesses  were 
taken  with  the  greatest  circumspection,  and  the 
least  discrepancy  in  their  details  obtained  a 
verdict  of  acquittal  for  the  prisoner.  During 
the  sitting  of  the  court  the  auditors  present 
were  at  liberty  to  ascend  the  judgment  seat, 
and  to  employ  all  their  eloquence,  if  they 
intended  to  speak  in  favour  of  the  delinquent. 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  67 

"No  such  right  was  granted  them  if  condemna- 
tion was  the  motive  of  their  application.  At 
any  stage  of  the  proceedings  the  prisoner  was 
at  liberty  to  interrupt  the  debates  and  to  call 
upon  the  assembly  to  listen  to  his  defence,  and 
he  was  ever  allowed  the  benefit  of  a  scruple, 
where  a  point  of  law  rendered  the  decision 
difficult.  If  the  majority  of  opinion  was  favour- 
able to  the  prisoner,  he  was  immediately  set  at 
liberty ;  but  if  the  majority  of  elders  had  found 
him  guilty,  the  court  adjourned  till  the  third 
day,  when  the  magistrates  again  repaired  to  the 
seat  of  justice,  and  those  who  had  found  no 
reason  to  retract  their  verdict,  showed  their 
adhesion  to  the  same  by  a  repetition  of  their 
sentence.  But  as  a  generous  trait  in  Hebrew 
legislation,  it  may  be  remarked  that  only  those 
elders  who  had  found  a  verdict  of  guilty  on  the 
day  of  the  trial  could  change  their  sentence 
into  an  acquittal.  The  word  of  mercy  once 
pronounced  could  no  more  be  revoked.  Of  the 
twenty-three  votes,  twelve  favourable  ones 
were  sufficient  for  the  liberation  of  the  accused, 
whereas  it  required  more  than  twelve  on  the 
side  of  the  prosecution  to  elicit  a  sentence  of 
guilty.  And  even  after  the  sentence  of  death 


68  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"  was  pronounced,  every  precaution  was  taken  to- 
allow  the  prisoner  a  chance  to  retrieve  his  for- 
feited life,  in  case  his  innocence  should  come  to- 
light  at  that  late  hour.     On  the  prisoner's  own 
request,   if  he   had   any   disclosures    to  make, 
he  was  taken  back  before  the  court  as  often  as 
five  times.     Only  when  every  chance  of  reprieve 
was    impossible,    the   sentence   of    death    was 
passed,  and  at  a  short  distance  from  the  place  of 
punishment  a  soporific  was  administered  to  him, 
which  had  the  effect  of  making  him  less  sensible 
of  the  horrors  of  death."     .     .     .     Surely  after 
perusing  such  testimony,  founded  as  it   is  on 
indisputable  data  and  authority,  none  but  the 
most   sceptical  will  be  disposed  to  dispute  our 
statement  that  the  Jewish  Tribunals  left  naught 
undone  which  could  hedge  round   human  life, 
although  due  punishment  was  administered  in 
conformity  with  a  strict  sense  of  justice  and 
God's  all-gracious  laws. 

And  now  we  may  proceed  to  consider  the  oft 
quoted  sentence,  Ex.  ch.  21,  v.  xxiv.,  which 
alludes  to  the  brutal  assaulter  of  the 
weaker  sex,  and  is  repeated  in  almost  identical 
terms  in  reference  to  the  "  false  witness," 
at  Dcut.  ch.  19,  r.  xxi.,  "Life  shall  go  for 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  69 

life,"*  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,"  &c.,  which, 
despite  the  whole  scope  and  teachings  of  Mosa- 
ism,  has  only  too  frequently  been  strangely, 
grossly  misconceived  and  unfairly  interpreted. 
The  idea  that  this  injunction  inculcates  a  spirit  of 
retaliation,  that  it  breathes  a  feeling  of  revenge 
which  can  alone  be  appeased  by  returning  evil 
for  evil,  displays  such  an  utter  lack  of  discern- 
ment that  assuredly  it  could  only  be  entertained 
either  by  a  novice  unversed  in  Sacred  history, 
or  by  a  mind  blinded  by  prejudice  and  infatua- 
tion. Truly  all  scriptural  evidence  runs  directly 
counter  to  such  a  supposition,  and  surely  any- 

*  Let  those  who  cavil  at  this  Mosiac  command,  and 
can  so  far  misinterpret  its  practical  bearing's  as  to  declare 
it  harsh  and  vindictive,  take  cognizance  of  these  memor- 
able words,  uttered  by  the  highest  legal  authority  in  the 
most  civilised  Christian  country  in  Europe.  The  Lord 
Chief  Justice,  after  having-  passed  sentence  of  death  on  a 
murderer  (see  Criminal  Court  in  the  Times  of  the  2nd  of 
December,  1875)  thus  addressed  the  culprit ;  "I  have  to 
warn  you  against  any  delusive  hope  of  mercy  here  as  long 
as  the  law  exists  which  says  that  he  who  takes  the  life 
of  a  fellow -creature  with  malice  aforethought  shall 
answer  for  it  with  his  own."  Surely  then  we  have  here 
sufficient  evidence  to  convince  the  most  sceptical  that  the 
Divine  injunction  was  not  given  merely  to  suit  the 
exigences  of  the  time  of  its  promulgation,  but  was 
adapted  to  secure  the  cause  of  order  and  the  well-being 
of  humanity  in  after  ages  by  the  strict  enforcement  of 
justice  and  equity,  which  must  and  ever  will  prove  the 
surest,  the  most  efficacious  deterrant  to  all  violence  and 
crime. 


70  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

one  who  has  seriously  considered  the  impera- 
tive injunction,  "  thou  shalt  not  avenge,"  could 
not  for  one  moment  imagine  any  law,  however 
seemingly  harsh  and  exceptionally  severe,  to  be 
so  in  reality,  since  it  would  fail  to  correspond, 
not  only  with  the  all-important  command  "  thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  \vhich 
ordinance  is  the  only  true  standard  whereby 
Judaism  should  be  judged,  but  also  with  very 
many  more  of  the  like  humane  and  merciful 
statutes  which  have  been  treated  on  at  some 
length  in  the  previous  chapter. 

But  granting  that  we  take  the  command 
"  eye  for  eye,  foot  for  foot,  &c.,"  in  its  harshest 
sense,  it  would  yet  be  easy  to  show  that  it  was 
in  itself  a  merciful  and  wise  ordinance,  calculated 
to  proportion  the  punishment  to  the  crime, 
scare  the  zvilfiil  evil-doer,  and  curb  the  iras- 
cible, vindictive,  remorseless  man  through  the 
dread  of  undergoing  a  similar  fate.  It  served 
as  a  powerful  restraint,  and  one  only  too  greatly 
needed  in  a  clime  where  the  passions  of  men 
were  oftentimes  apt  to  become  ungovernable. 
And  surely  it  must  be  conceded  by  those  who 
have  attentively  studied  the  history  of  the 
middle  ages  that  had  this  law  then  been  in 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  71 


force,  its  pages  would  not  be  sullied  by  so  many 
a  sickening  list  of  horrors  and  tragical  deeds 
entailing  intense  human  suffering  and   misery  ; 
truly,  many  an  act  of  violence  and  crime  would 
never  have  been  perpetrated  had  the  penalty  for 
the  evil  inflicted  been  precisely  commensurate 
to  the  wrong   done.       And  further,  admitting 
that  the  imposition  of  severe  retribution  was  to 
be  literally  interpreted,  yet  it  should  be  taken 
in  connection  with  the  attendant  circumstances 
and  especially  with  the  method  in  which  it  was 
carried  out.     The  cause  was  brought  before  the 
highest  tribunal  of  the  land  and  was  adjudged 
by  those  elders  who  had  the  full  confidence  of 
the    entire    nation.       The   adjustment   of    all 
criminal  proceedings  depended  entirely  on  the 
fiat  of  the  judges,  as  commanded  in  Ex.  ch.  21, 
v.  xxii.,  and  Deut.  ch.  19,  v.  xviii.     Also   be   it 
remembered     that     it     wras    with     the     most 
scrupulous   nicety    that   these    elected    judges 
examined  and  investigated  every  act,  sifting  all 
the  evidence    that    could   be   procured   before 
delivering  the  final  sentence,   whilst  under  no 
possible    circumstance  could   a  penalty  be  im- 
posed without  at  least  two   witnesses   testifying 
on  oath  to  the  alleged  deed,   and  swearing  in 


72  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


open  court  to  a  positive  knowledge  of  the  crime 
imputed  to  the  accused.  The  accuser  was 
bound  publicly  to  prove  that  he  had  dealt  fairly, 
and  the  more  surely  to  secure  truthful  testi- 
mony, the  false  witness  had  to  undergo  a 
fearful  retribution,  inasmuch  as  the  award  which 
he  would  have  brought  on  another  wras  decreed 
against  himself,  for  we  read  in  Deut.  ch.  19, 
v.  xvi.,  "  If  a  false  witness  rise  up  against  any 
man  to  testify  against  him  that  which  is  wrong;'' 
v.  xix.,  "  then  shall  ye  do  unto  him  as  he  had 
thought  to  have  done  unto  his  brother  ;  so 
shall  ye  put  evil  away  from  among  you." 
Assuredly  we  have  in  these  facts  enough  to 
prove  to  demonstration  that  the  command,  so 
inconsiderately,  so  unjustly  criticised,  was  truly 
in  direct  antagonism  to  a  spirit  of  vindictive- 
ness  ;  that  the  wrilful  murderer  and  the  obdurate 
defier  of  God's  gracious  laws  would  surely  meet 
an  ignominious  fate  at  the  hand  of  justice,  must 
necessarily  have  precluded  a  recourse  to  in- 
dividual or  private  revenge. 

Here  we  may  also  remark  that  could  it  be 
certified  in  any  case  that  accident  and  not  pre- 
meditated ill-will  was  the  cause  of  injury  or 
death  to  a  fellow-mortal,  then  was  the  city  of 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  73 

refuge  open  to  the  unhappy  author  of  the  deed. 
[Deut.  ch.  4,  v.  xli.]  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that 
none  but  the  wilful  offender  or  murderer  need 
stand  in  dread  of  retributive  justice.  And  to 
prove  the  leniency  wrhich  ever  characterizes  the 
Jewish  law,  we  must  further  note  that  any  such 
penalty  lasted  only  for  a  time,  since  on  the 
death  of  the  High  Priest  the  exile  might  return 
to  his  own  home  free  from  all  fear  of  incurring 
.any  hostility  or  personal  inconvenience.  Nor 
should  we  ignore  the  fact  that  a  sentence  being 
once  passed  acquitting  a  prisoner,  no  further 
proceedings  with  regard  to  the  same  offence 
could  be  instituted.  Now  before  concluding 
this  subject,  once  again  must  we  repeat  that 
history  fails  to  point  to  one  single  instance  of 
the  execution  of  the  law  "  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for 
tooth,"  thereby  showing  most  conclusively,  that 
either  this  injunction  was  not  literally  inter- 
preted by  the  Sanhedrim,  or  that  if  indeed  it 
were  considered  of  practical  application,  then 
it  had  efficiently  served  the  beneficial  purpose 
for  which  it  was  instituted,  and  must  have  saved 
many  a  man  from  perpetrating  deeds  of  violence 
.and  crime. 

And  be  it  observed  that  the  law  of  restitution 


74  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


to  be  found  embodied  and  detailed  in  Ex.  ch.  22, 
v.  i.  to  xv.,  was  very  similar  in  character  and 
effect.  The  mere  dread  that  a  penalty  would 
be  imposed  assimilating  to  the  fraud  com- 
mitted, tended  to  keep  in  check  the  avaricious 
and  crafty  man,  the  imposter,  and  the  thief. 
Additional  evidence  might  easily  be  adduced  to 
substantiate  the  foregoing  facts,  but  further 
remarks  on  this  score  seem  superfluous  ;  thence 
we  will  now  revert  to  another  Jewish  law  which 
affords  one  more  proof  that  leniency,  and  cer- 
tainly not  harshness,  was  the  prominent  feature 
of  the  Mosaic  code.  We  read  in  Deut.  ch.  25, 
v.  iii.,  "If  the  wicked  man  be  worthy  to  be 
beaten,  forty  stripes  may  be  given  and  not 
exceed,  lest  if  he  should  exceed  and  beat  him 
above  these,  then  thy  brother  should  seem  vile 
unto  thee."  Now  surely  it  is  impossible  to  re- 
concile this  injunction  with  the  belief  that  the 
Jewish  creed  ever  permitted,  much  less 
demanded,  rigorous  measures  and  inculcated 
the  sacrifice  of  mercy  to  justice,  and  if  thus 
much  be  granted,  what  then  becomes  of  all  un- 
favourable strictures  on  this  score.  No,  here 
again  the  heavenly-bestowed  law  is  not  at  fault, 
but  rather  those,  who  through  gross  ignorance 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  75 

or  malice-propense,  have  dared  to  take  ex- 
ception to  it.  Man  would  be  wiser  than  his 
Maker  ! 

It  will  now  be  necessary  to  revert  briefly  to- 
the  subject  of  Usury,  a  word  which,  as  clearly 
shown  in  the  previous  chapter,  was  used  in  the 
place  of  "  interest,"  a  very  important  difference 
truly,  since  its  supposed  practice  has  often  been 
regarded  as  a  blot  in  the  character  of  the 
Judaic  race.  Now  there  could  hardly  be  any 
more  erroneous  belief  than  that  the  Mosaic 
Code  counselled  usury  in  the  case  of  the  alien, 
and  we  would  quote  from  the  writings  of  an 
able  scholar,  the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  Adler,  in  testi- 
mony of  the  application  of  a  far  more  beneficent 
law.  Here  are  his  words  : — "  When  the  Gentile- 
needed  the  loan  of  money,  not  for  commerce 
but  for  his  subsistence,  our  Divine  law  made 
no  difference  between  him  and  the  Hebrew." 
We  read  in  Lev.  ch.  25,  v.  xxxv.,  xxxvi.,  "And 
if  thy  brother  be  waxen  poor,  then  thou  shalt 
relieve  him  ;  yea,  though  he  be  a  stranger  or 
sojourncr,  that  he  may  live  with  thee.  Take  no- 
usury  of  him  or  increases,  but  fear  the  Lord.". 
Could  any  injunction  be  more  equitable,  more 
just  ?  yet  has  it  been  ungenerously  and  unfairly 


76  The  Jeiuish  Armoury. 

asserted  that  the  prohibition  to  lend  at  an 
usurious  rate  did  not  extend  to  the  alien,  but 
simply  to  a  brother  in  faith.  Accept  the 
correct  word,  "  interest "  in  lieu  of  usury,  mark 
the  repeated  inculcation  of  justice  and  charity 
towards  the  stranger,  and  further,  bear  in  mind 
that  the  practice  of  usury  in  its  true  sense  was 
even  punishable  with  death,  see  Ezek.  ch.  18, 
£>.  xiii.,  "He  that  hath  given  forth  upon  usury, 
find  hath  taken  increase  :  shall  he  then  live  ?  he 
shall  not  live  ;  he  hath  done  this  abomination, 
he  shall  surely  die  ;  his  blood  shall  be  upon 
him  ;  "  and  then  declare  whether  it  is  not  utterly 
erroneous  to  say  that  the  Jewish  law  inculcated 
usurious  dealings  ;  and,  indeed,  had  there  been 
no  other  command  than  the  one  in  Lev.  ch  25, 
v.  xiv.,  "  Ye  shall  not  oppress  one  another,"  it 
would  amply  suffice  to  disprove  any  such 
assertion. 

But  among  the  numerous  ordinances  which 
tended  to  discourage  covetousness  and  greedi- 
ness of  gain,  there  were  none  more  efficacious 
than,  firstly,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
when  all  trafficking  was  to  be  suspended  ; 
secondly,  the  jubilee,  or  year  of  release,  during 
which  the  restoration  of  all  property  and 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  77 

personal  freedom  was  ordained ;  thirdly,  the 
festivals,  when  gifts  were  to  be  liberally  made 
to  the  needy  ;  and  lastly,  the  sacrifices,  which 
demanded  and  enforced  freewill  offerings  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Levite,  the  widow,  and  the 
orphan. 

And  it  is  this  latter  subject  that  now  calls  for 
our  attention,  since  the  end  and  aim  of  the 
Sacrificial  ordinances  being  frequently  misunder- 
stood, and  their  wise  and  beneficent  intent 
inadvertently  ignored  or  carelessly  disregarded, 
many  have  been  led  to  cavil  at  and  adversely 
criticise  this  phase  of  Temple  worship.  It  will 
not,  however,  be  necessary  to  dwell  on  more 
than  the  main  point,  for,  like  several  Levitical 
and  economical  precepts  and  practices,  the 
commands  relating  to  sacrifice  were  solely  to  be 
held  in  force  by  the  Hebrew  people  during- 
their  sojourn  in  Judea.  Truly,  great  was  the 
good  the  sacrificial  offerings  at  that  period 
conferred  :  they  gave  a  vent  for  gratitude  and 
thankfulness  to  God  in  a  practical  shape  ;  they 
served  as  a  token  of  truthful  repentance  ;  they 
proved  an  admirable  medium  for  dispensing 
charity,  the  rich,  in  accordance  with  God's  solemn 
command,  being  bound  to  offer  up  the  best  of 


78  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

their  flocks  and  herds,  while  the  priest  and  the 
needy  were  thereby  assured  of  ample  provision 
in  the  shape  of  wholesome  animal  food.  Not 
the  most  avaricious  and  grasping  man  dared 
appear  empty  before  the  Lord  :  he  was  forced 
to  do  his  duty  towards  the  poor  as  well  as 
towards  his  Maker,  even  if  too  callous  to  fulfil 
voluntarily  the  imperative  obligation  which  the 
wealthy  owe  to  the  indigent  and  destitute. 
That  the  sacrifices  were  the  means  to  an 
•end,  and  not  the  end  itself,  admits  of  no 
reasonable  doubt  ;  indeed,  no  small  proportion 
of  them  were  left  to  the  promptings  of  the 
natural  and  pious  feelings  of  the  Israelitish 
people.  In  conclusion,  it  is  enough  to  re- 
mark that  as  Abel,  Noah,  and  the  patriarchs 
offered  up  of  their  own  free  will  a  "  sweet 
savour  to  the  Lord"  to  evince  their  grateful 
remembrance  of  some  especial  manifestation 
of  Divine  goodness  and  bounty,  so  did  the 
sacrifices  in  the  Temple  admit  of  the  pious 
worshipper  showing  a  practical  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  undying  belief  in  God's  benefi- 
cence, mercy,  and  loving  kindness.  Who,  then, 
dare  affirm  that  they  were  objectless,  fruitless, 
or  superfluous  ? 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  79 

We  may  now  say  a  few  words  on  the  various 
commands    relative  to  slavery   which  are   em- 
bodied in  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  and  surely 
it  will  only  need  some  careful  reflection  on  their 
purport  to  arrive   at   the  firm  conviction   that, 
although  forming  an  element  in  the  social  con- 
ditions of  Judea,   it   nevertheless  left   no  dark 
stain  whatsoever  on  the  heavenly-inspired  Code, 
as  has  so  often  been  inconsiderately  affirmed. 
First,  however,  be  it  remembered  that  slavery, 
like  polygamy,  was  simply  tolerated,  and  most 
certainly  never  enjoined  ;  indeed,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  it  was  permitted  in  con- 
sideration of  the  peculiar  position  held  by  the 
Israelites  in  regard  to  the  surrounding  idolatrous 
nations,  and  which  made   it  almost  imperative 
to  hold  as  bondsmen  those  prisoners  taken  by 
them  in  war,  whilst  it  must  surely  have  been  in 
a  great  measure  the  fear  of  servitude  attending 
on  capture  and  defeat,  which  curbed  these  war- 
like and  barbarous  tribes.     And  of  this  we  may 
adduce  a  proof  from  the  Book  of  Joshua,  where 
we  find  in  chapter  9  that  the  Gibeonites  yielded 
of  themselves  submissively  to  become  "hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water,"  and  said  to  the 
Jewish  Leader — "  Now,  behold,  we  are  in  thy 


8o  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


hand  ;  as  it  seemeth  good  and  right  unto  thee 
to  do  unto  us,  do."  The  better  to  show  that 
slavery  was  only  tolerated,  and  that  few  were 
subjected  to  it  except  prisoners  of  war,  we  have 
but  to  refer  to  Ex.  ch.  21,  v.  xvi.,  "He  that 
stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be 
found  in  his  hand,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to 
death  ;"  for  here  we  have  distinct  proof  that  all 
trafficking  in  human  beings  and  servitude  through 
surreptitious  means  were  not  only  against  the 
Mosaic  Code,  but  even  entailed  the  penalty  of 
death.  It  should,  however,  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  condition  of  the  slave  under  the  Jewish 
dispensation  was  totally  unlike  the  serfdom  of 
which  we  read  in  profane  history  ;  truly  it  was 
only  the  mildest  form  of  thraldom,  and  there 
being  but  "  one  manner  of  law  for  the  stranger 
and  for  one  of  the  land,"  it  is  clear  that  the 
numerous  injunctions  which  prohibited  unkind- 
ness  and  severity  to  the  needy  brother  who  had 
sold  himself  into  servitude  was  equally  applica- 
ble to  the  alien  slave.  But  had  there  been  no 
other  law  than  that  to  be  found  in  Ex.  ch.  21, 
v.  xxvi.,  "  If  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his  servant 
that  it  perish,  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his 
eye's  sake;  if  he  smite  out  his  tooth,  he  shall 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  Si 


let  him  go  free  for  his  tooth's  sake;"  this  would 
suffice  to  prove  that  the  bond  slave  had  no  cause 
to  fear  mal-treatment,  for  a  blow  struck  or  such 
violence  used  as  would  maim  him,  was  adequate 
to  procure  his  liberation,  a  pecuniary  penalty 
which  no  master  would  voluntarily  incur  or  dare 
ignore.  If,  then,  it  could  be  said  that  there  was 
any  harshness  in  this  case,  it  certainly  was 
against  the  oppressor  and  in  favour  of  the 
oppressed  and  humble  slave.  Yet  additional 
evidence  that  slavery  was  no  Mosaic  institution, 
but  merely  the  result  of  the  necessity  which 
existed  for  it  during  the  earlier  organisation  of 
the  nation,  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  for  the 
building  of  the  Temple  levies  were  raised  among 
the  Israelites  themselves,  and  that  to  the  number 
of  thirty  thousand  ;  while  the  Syrians,  who  had 
been  taken  prisoners  by  King  David,  merely 
became  his  "  servants ;"  indeed,  only  once  in  the 
history  of  the  reign  of  Solomon  do  we  find  any 
mention  of  bondsmen,  while  a  noted  event 
narrated  in  the  Book  of  Kings  makes  it  clear 
that  it  was  not  the  practice  of  that  period  to 
retain  prisoners  of  war  as  slaves;  else  should  we 
not  read,  that  when  King  Jehoram  asked 

Elisha,  the  prophet,  what  was  to  be  done  with 

G 


82  77ie  Jewish  Armoury. 

the  captive  Syrians,  he  thus  advised  his  monarch, 
"  Set  bread  and  water  before  them,  so  that  they 
may  go  to  their  master,"  and  this  kindly  act 
performed,  "he  sent  them  azuay"  to  their  own 
land. 

It  would  be  a  serious  omission  to  conclude 
this  especial  chapter  without  making  some 
reference  to  the  numerous  wars  which  the 
Israelites  of  old  waged  against  their  idolatrous 
neighbours,  if  only  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
that  far  from  having  their  origin  in  the  teachings 
of  Moses,  or  through  the  proclivities  of  the 
Hebrew  people  themselves,  as  has  been  affirmed 
by  superficial  readers  of  the  Sacred  volume, 
they  simply  arose  from  circumstances  over 
which  the  nation  could  have  no  possible  control. 
And  first,  be  it  observed,  in  refutation  to  much 
unmerited  censure  on  this  score,  that  no  one 
instance  of  useless  bloodshed  is  on  record. 
When  it  was  a  direct  command  from  God  to 
exterminate  an  idolatrous  nation  which  was  im- 
mersed in  crime  and  debauch,  and  dead  to  all 
feeling  of  remorse  or  repentance,  or,  when  in 
the  words  of  Scripture,  "  the  iniquity  of  the 
Amonites  was  full,"  surely  the  Israelites  must 
have  felt  it  their  bounden  duty  to  obey  the 


The  Jeivish  Armoury.  83 

Divine  Behest,  and  therefore  the  individuals  who 
impute  blame  to  those  who  were  simply  the 
instruments  chosen  by  the  Lord  Himself  to 
fulfil  His  purpose,  may  not  feel  that  they  are 
altogether  free  from  the  presumptuous  act  of 
judging  the  gracious  Ruler  of  the  Universe, 
the  great  Judge  of  all.  Surely  it  is  sufficient  to 
read  (Ex.  ch.  23,  v.  xxviii.),  "  I,  the  Lord,  do 
drive  them  out,"  and  (Deut.  ch.  20,  v.  xvii.),  "  I 
will  deliver  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  into  thy 
hands";  and  again,  (Num.  ch.  25,  v.  xvii.) 
"  Vex  the  Midianites  and  smite  them,  for  they 
vex  you  with  their  wiles,"  to  be  convinced  that 
the  Iraelites  only  resorted  to  arms  against  neigh- 
bouring states  in  obedience  to  the  word  of  the 
Supreme,  who,  in  His  wisdom  must  have  seen 
that  to  permit  the  further  growth  of  idolatry, 
with  its  revolting  practices,  and  the  violation  of 
every  principle  of  right  and  humanity,  might 
finally  taint  the  beautiful  world  He  had  made, 
and  entail  unutterable  misery  and  calamity  on 
His  creatures.  God  would  not  withdraw  the 
gracious  boon  of  freewill  which  might,  according 
if  wisely  used  or  grossly  abused,  be  made  a 
blessing  or  a  curse  ;  better  that  the  impenitent 
sinner  should  pay  the  just  penalty  of  his  mis- 


The  Jewish  Armoury. 


deeds,  and  therefore,  assuredly,  was  the  minor 
calamity  of  war  permitted  for  the  purpose  of 
arresting  the  far  greater  and  ever  growing  evil, 
the  contaminating  influence  engendered  by 
idolatry  and  superstition. 

But  while  these  wars  were  Divinely  ordained, 
mark  how  they  were  to  be  conducted.  On  be- 
sieging a  city,  the  first  act  required  in  accordance 
with  the  command  to  be  found  in  Deut.  ch.  23, 
v.  x.,  was  to  "  proclaim  peace  unto  it."  Surely, 
such  an  injunction  proves  beyond  all  doubt,  that 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  any  spirit  of 
vindictiveness  or  revenge  predominating,  and 
thereby  provoking  a  sanguinary  conflict,  such 
conflict  had  to  be  preceded  by  friendly  over- 
tures, which  precluded  the  possibility  of  that 
reckless  haste  so  frequently  attending  on 
violence,  passion,  and  strife,  while  giving  scope 
for  mature  deliberation,  a  wise  circumspection, 
and  above  all,  for  a  thoughtful  consideration  of 
what  is  due  to  our  common  humanity. 

Surely,  enough  has  now  been  advanced  to 
show  that  nothing  but  love,  clemency,  and 
benevolence  were  inculcated  in  the  Mosaic 
Code ;  and  further,  that  these  characteristics 
were  displayed  by  the  Israelites  of  old  under 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  85 

almost  every  circumstance  and  condition,  whilst 
even  the  stain  that  slavery  and  war  seems  to 
cast  on  the  pages  of  their  history,  vanishes  away 
on  close  investigation;  thence,  if  any  doubts  could 
yet  arise  in  regard  to  that  mercy,  that  justice, 
which  assuredly  permeates  the  Jewish  Code, 
they  should  be  at  once  dismissed,  and  the  con- 
viction fostered,  that  God's  laws  are  replete  with 
all  that  can  prove  beneficial  to  His  creatures; 
in  a  word,  that  they  are  wise,  true,  and  perfect. 


86  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

To  the  certain  knowledge  of  the  writer  of 
these  pages,  many  of  the  most  enlightened 
Christians,and  among  them  clergymen  and  digni- 
taries of  the  Church,  entertain  the  erroneous 
conviction,  surprisingly  enough,  that  the  Jews 
do  not  authoritatively  believe  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  and  that  it  is  not  to  the  Old,  but  to 
the  New  Testament  alone  that  mankind  must 
turn  to  find  this  doctrine  inferred  and  expounded. 

Now,  could  this  view  be  substantiated,  and  so 
all  important,  all  vital  an  article  of  belief,  be 
proved  to  have  no  place  in  Jewish  ethics,  then 
indeed  would  Mosaism  have  one  vulnerable 
point  of  attack,  but  assuredly  any  such  assertion 
is  altogether  ill  founded,  as  we  hope  hereby  to 
demonstrate. 

Treating,  as  we  are,  on  all  the  salient  charac- 
teristics of  Judaism,  with  its  doctrinal  excel- 
lences, it  would  be  impossible  to  ignore  this 
bulwark  of  Mosaism,  thence  the  author  here 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  87 

reproduces  from  his  last  religious  work  ("Moral 
Biblical  Gleanings  ")  a  letter  he  addressed  some 
years  back  to  a  dear  relative  on  the  subject  of 
Immortality,  and  which,  greatly  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  writer,  has  not  only  left  a  favourable 
impression  on  the  minds  of  various  readers,  but 
has  even  led  some  of  the  thoughtful  and  enquir- 
ingly disposed  of  another  creed  to  the  conviction 
of  the  truths  therein  advanced,  and  to  the  know- 
ledge that  Judaism  lacks  no  vital  principle  of 
stability,  no  doctrine  that  could  possibly  serve 
to  promote  man's  well-being  here  or  hereafter. 

LETTER  ON   IMMORTALITY. 

"  Dear , — In  fulfilment  of  my  promise,  I 

gladly  place  before  you  some  of  the  numerous 
Biblical  quotations  which  refer  to  the  all- 
important  subject  of  immortality.  They  are 
culled  from  the  various  Books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  directly  or  indirectly  bear  testimony 
that  belief  therein  has  ever  been  the  very  essence 
of  the  Jewish  faith. 

"  Referring,  firstly,  to  the  FIVE  BOOKS  OF 
MOSES,  we  find  that  almost  all  relating  to  a 
future  state  is  of  a  practical  character,  thus  the 
death  of  the  righteous  Abel  by  the  hand  of  his 


88  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


"  guilty  brother,  when  considered  in  connection 
with  the  goodness  of  the  Deity,  affords  ample 
evidence  that  this  life  is  but  the  prelude  to 
another  and  a  better  world.  If  death  be  annihi- 
lation, where  was  Abel's  merited  reward  ?  God 
had  no  sooner  testified  His  pleasure  with  the 
conduct  of  His  pious  servant,  than  death  befel 
him  !  Surely,  were  there  no  future  state,  this 
untimely  fate  must  be  considered  a  chastise- 
ment, and  certainly  not  a  recompense  for  his 
past  virtuous  life,  thence  we  must  believe  in 
immortality  if  we  believe  in  the  justice  and  good- 
ness of  God.  The  death  of  Moses  speaks  no 
less  forcibly  to  the  same  effect.  For  one  incon- 
siderate act  he  was  not  only  denied  the  privilege 
of  entering  the  Land  of  Promise,  but  had  to 
yield  up  his  life  at  the  very  moment  that  his 
hopes  were  about  to  meet  their  fruition  !  If 
dissolution  of  the  mortal  frame  were  indeed 
synonymous  with  extinction  of  the  soul  or 
spirit,  breathed  by  God  into  man,  we  should 
assuredly  be  unable  to  reconcile  the  fact  of  his 
departure  from  this  world  at  such  a  moment 
with  the  gracious  attributes  of  the  Lord.  Truly 
the  great  law-giver,  Moses,  in  his  death  added 
to  his  other  valuable  teachings  the  all-important 


The  Jeivish  Armoury.  89 


"'  lesson  that  at  the  very  gates  of  death  lies  life 
•everlasting.  The  translation  of  Enoch  to 
Heaven  without  dying  is  not  without  its  signifi- 
cance ;  indeed,  it  goes  far  to  prove  that  another 
habitation  does  exist  for  the  sons  of  men,  and 
is  reserved  for  the  faithful  servants  of  the  Lord. 
"  Other  practical  examples  might  be  adduced, 
but  we  will  now  select  some  quotations  from  the 
same  five  Books,  which  are  scarcely  less  con- 
clusive. Take  the  sentence,  Gen.  ch.  15,  v.  xi., 
•"  Thou  shalt  go  to  thy  fathers  in  peace  ;"  also 
ch.  25,  "  He  was  gathered  iinto  his  people ,"  and 
what  meaning  may  we  attach  to  such  words  but 
the  assurance  of  a  future  state  ?  Indeed,  when 
applied  to  Abraham,  Moses,  Aaron,  Samuel, 
Jeremiah,  and  various  others,  it  is  evident  that 
the  soul  and  not  the  body  is  referred  to,  since 
not  one  of  these  was  buried  near  his  father,  but 
in  distant  sepulchres,  and  in  more  than  one  in- 
stance, lonely  solitudes,  far,  far  from  the  haunts 
of  men.  These  words  would  otherwise  be  wrorse 
than  meaningless  ;  they  would  not  even  bear 
the  high  stamp  of  truth,  in  itself  an  utter  im- 
possibility, proceeding  as  they  did  from  the 
God  of  truth.  Again,  in  Gen.  ch.  47,  we  find 
Jacob  alluding  to  the  length  of  his  pilgrimage, 


9O  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


"  and  averring  before  Pharaoh  that  the  years  of 
his  life  had  been  "  few  and  evil."  Now  the 
very  word,  pilgrimage,  betokened  his  belief  that 
this  world  was  but  a  preparation  for  another, 
free  from  those  trials  which  beset  his  path  here 
on  earth.  Then  among  the  divers  laws  given 
by  Moses  to  the  Israelites,  we  may  note  such 
expressions  as  these:  Gen.,  "  He  who  doeth  this 
wrong  shall  be  utterly  destroyed;'  "that  soul 
shall  be  cut  off,"  and  again  in  Lev.  "  that  soul 
shall  be  utterly  cut  off."  Here  death  of  the 
soul  is  threatened  as  a  punishment,  thereby 
clearly  implying  that  a  future  world  is  reserved 
as  a  reward  for  the  pious  and  virtuous.  Then,, 
what  is  more  significant  and  expressive  of  the 
belief  in  immortality  among  the  Israelites,  than 
their  impassioned  words  to  Moses,  Num. 
ch.  17,  v.  xii.,  "  Behold,  we  die,  we  perish" 
implying  utter  annihilation.  Again,  Moses 
thus  addresses  the  people,  Deut.  30,  v.  xix.,  "  I 
call  heaven  and  earth  to  record  this  day  against 
you  that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death, 
therefore  choose  life,"  &c.  Now,  since  death 
befals  the  virtuous  no  less  than  the  evil-disposed 
and  vicious,  "  life,"  evidently  here  implies  life 
everlasting.  Further,  by  the  light  of  immor- 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  91 


"  tality  alone  could  the  people  have  understood 
the  promised  reward  of  Moses  that  "  their  days- 
should  be  as  the  days  of  heaven  upon  the  earth  " 
would  they  but  act  in  obedience  to  the  Holy 
Law.  And  again,  did  not  Moses  clearly  allude 
to  a  future  life,  when,  after  imploring  forgiveness 
for  his  people,  he  added,  "  Yet  now  if  Thou 
wilt  not  forgive  their  sin,  then  blot  me,  I  pray 
Thee,  out  of  Thy  Book''  Surely,  such  words 
must  convince  us  that  a  belief  in  immortality,  as 
well  as  future  rewards  and  punishment,  was 
entertained  both  by  the  lawgiver  and  his 
people. 

"  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  Five  Books  of 
Moses  speak  less  plainly  and  touch  more 
lightly  on  this  subject,  this  belief,  than  the 
Psalms  or  the  Prophets,  but  the  reason  is 
obvious  ;  like  prayer,  it  is  an  instinct,  a  craving 
of  the  human  heart,  and  therefore,  like  it, 
was  never  especially  "  commanded."  Further, 
Moses  could  not  consistently  set  himself  to  im- 
press a  people,  but  lately  emancipated  from 
slavery,  leading  a  wandering  life  and  deeply 
engrossed  in  every-day  cares,  with  the  doctrine 
of  prospective  advantages  in  a  future  life,  but 
this  he  knew  full  well,  that  when  their  minds 


92  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

•"  became  enlightened  they  would  not  only  com- 
prehend, but  would  even  grasp  its  full  and  high 
import.  It  sufficed  that  he  had  laid  a  foundation 
with  ample  materials  to  develop  the  super- 
structure into  a  fundamental  principle  in  future 
generations.  And  as  we  pass  onwards,  review- 
ing the  various  portions  of  Scripture,  this  truth 
openly  reveals  itself.  We  find  that  when  once 
the  Israelites  had  freed  themselves  from  their 
enemies  and  established  a  powerful  Kingdom, 
then,  and  then  only,  were  they  enabled  to 
•dismiss  the  overwhelming  cares  of  the  moment, 
and  turn  their  thoughts  into  loftier  channels. 
Spiritual  welfare  was  then  considered  as  well  as 
the  well-being  of  the  body.  Of  this  we  may 
feel  convinced  when  we  peruse  the  beautiful 
Psalms  of  David,  which  repeatedly  revert  to 
the  immortality  of  the  soul.  These  were 
written  for  the  entire  people,  and  had  they  not 
already  entertained  a  well-grounded  hope  of  a 
blessed  hereafter,  David's  allusions  thereto  would 
have  been  totally  unintelligible  to  them.  How 
could  they  have  comprehended  such  passages 
as  these,  Ps.  23,  v.  iii.,  "  The  Lord  restoreth 
my  soul,"  Ps.  119,  v.  xv.,  "God  will  redeem 
my  soul  from  the  power  of  the  grave,  he  will 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  93 

" receive  me,"  and  Ps.  97,  v.  x.,  "Ye  that  love 
the  Lord  hate  evil,  He  prcscrveth  tJic  soul  of 
His  saints;'  and  again  Ps.  37,  v.  xxxvii.r 
"  Mark  the  perfect  man,  for  the  end  of  that  man 
is  peace  "  such  peace  being  the  sure  result  of  a 
firm  belief  in  life  eternal,  for  holy  trust  ever 
banishes  all  fear,  all  doubts,  all  questionings. 
Then  we  have  David's  memorable  words 
addressed  to  his  servants  on  the  death  of  his 
son  ;  "  While  the  child  lived,  I  fasted  and 
prayed,  for  who  could  tell  whether  God  will  be 
gracious  to  me  that  it  may  live,  but  now  that 
he  is  dead,  wherefore  should  I  fast  ?  can  I  bring 
him  back  again  ?  /  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  will 
not  return  to  me."  Surely  this  answer  alone 
would  afford  conclusive  evidence  of  his  faith  in 
a  w^orld  beyond  the  grave.  Again,  how  may 
we  construe  the  following  words  of  Abigail  ta 
David,  if  not  persuaded  that  they  allude  to 
immortality  ?  I.  Samuel  ch.  25,  "  The  soul  of  my 
Lord  shall  be  bound  in  the  bundle  of  life  with 
the  Lord  thy  God,"  thence  showing  that  the 
belief  not  only  animated  the  King,  but  had 
taken  a  firm  hold  on  the  mind  of  the  whole 
people.  Although  more  wordly-minded, Solomon 
spoke  no  less  forcibly  or  distinctly  of  a  future 


•94  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


"  state  than  did  his  father  David.  His  words 
.are  not  to  be  misunderstood,  being  entirely  free 
from  all  ambiguity.  Thus  in  Eccles.  we  read, 
"  All  go  to  one  place,  all  are  of  the  dust,  and  all 
turn  to  dust  again  ;  who  knoweth  the  spirit  of 
man  that  goeth  upwards?"  and  ch.  12,  "Man 
goeth  to  his  long  home  ;  then  shall  the  dust 
return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  will 
return  imto  God  who  gave  it"  Then  in  Proverbs, 
which  were  especially  adapted  for  the  people, 
we  read,  ch.  n,  "Righteousness  deliveretk frottt, 
death;"  also,  we  are  told,  "When  the  wicked 
man  dieih,  his  expectation  shall  perish  ; "  and 
again,  "In  the  way  of  righteousness  is  life,  and 
in  the  pathway  thereof  tfiere  is  no  death" 

"We  now  turn  to  the  Book  of  Job,  supposed 
to  have  been  written  in  the  time  of  Moses  ; 
and  therein  we  find  additional  proof  that  the 
blissful  hope  of  immortality  was  then  a  belief, 
a  fixed  trust.  Thus  we  read  ch.  19 — "and 
after  this  body  is  destroyed,  out  of  my  flesh 
shall  I  see  God."  Again,  "  God  looked  upon 
men,  and  if  any  say,  I  have  sinned,  then  will  He 
deliver  his  soul,  and  his  life  shall  see  the  light" 

"  A  few  practical  incidents  calculated  to 
strengthen  the  belief  in  immortality  may  be 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  95 


*'  here  introduced  ;  for  example,  when  Elijah 
prayed  to  God  that  Zarephath's  child's  soul 
should  come  into  him  again,  the  Lord  granted 
his  request,  and  "  the  soul  came  back  unto  him 
again,  and  he  revived."  Then  also  the  transla- 
tion of  ElijaJi  himself  clearly  proves  that  there 
is  another  habitation  for  the  sons  of  men. 

"  Turning  next  to  the  Book  of  Kings,  we  find 
that  in  more  than  one  instance  deatJi  was 
promised  as  a  blessing,  as  a  reward  for  virtuous 
condiict,  as  in  the  case  of  that  excellent  monarch 
Josiah,  2  Kings  ch.  22,  v.  xx.  ;  yet  could  this 
have  been  deemed  such  by  monarchs  in  the 
zenith  of  their  prosperity,  had  they  not  firmly 
and  fixedly  believed  in  immortality? 

"And  now  we  may  add  some  quotations  from 
the  Books  of  the  Prophets,  written  at  various 
epochs,  most  of  them  in  the  reigns  of  the 
Jewish  Kings,  but  .some  few  when  a  portion  of 
the  Israelites  had  become  captives  and  exiles 
in  the  land  of  their  enemies.  Thus  we  read  in 
Isaiah  ch.  26,  v.  xix.,  "  The  dead  shall  live. 
Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  dust,"  &c. 
Again,  ch.  55,  v.  Hi.,  "  Incline  your  ear  and 
come  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord,  and  your  soiil 
shall  live.  Let  the  wicked  man  forsake  his 


9 6  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"way  and  turn  unto  the  Lord,  and  God  will 
abundantly  pardon''  And  again  how  significant 
is  the  following  sentence,  ch.  25,  v.  viii.,  "  He, 
the  Lord,  will  swallozv  up  dcatJi  in  victory." 
Next,  extracting  from  Jeremiah,  ch.  22  v.  x.r 
"  Weep  ye  not  for  the  dead,  neither  bemoan 
him,  but  weep  sore  for  him  that  goeth  away 
(into  exile)  for  HE  shall  return  no  more" 
Then  what  words  could  be  more  significant 
of  eternal  life  than  the  following  of  Ezekiel 
ch.  13,  v.  xix.,  "Thus  said  the  Lord  God,  will 
ye  pollute  me  among  my  people  to  slay  the  sou/s 
that  should  not  die?"  Again,  speaking  of  a 
righteous  man,  ch.  18,  v.  ix.,  "  He  hath  walked 
in  my  statutes,  and  hath  kept  my  judgments  to 
deal  truly,  he  is  just,  he  shall  surely  live,  saith 
the  Lord."  Also,  alluding  to  the  evil-doer, 
"  When  the  wicked  man  turneth  away  from  his 
wickedness  that  he  hath  committed,  and  doeth 
that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  save  his 
soul  alwe  "  and  again,  ch.  33,  v.  xv.,  "If  the 
wicked  restore  the  pledge,  &c.,  walk  in  the 
statutes  of  life,  without  committing  iniquity. 
he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die'' 

"Turning  next  to  Daniel,  we  read  ch.  12— 
"And  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered, 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  97 

"every  one  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the 
Book,  and  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust 
shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  &c.,  and 
they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness 
of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to 
righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever' 
Then  in  Hosea  ch.  13,  v.  ix.,  "  O,  Israel,  thou 
hast  destroyed  thyself,  but  in  Me  is  thine  help  ; 
/  will  ranson  them  from  the  power  of  the  grave, 
I  will  redeem  them  from  death''  Lastly,  in 
Malachi  ch.  3,  "  They  that  feared  the  Lord 
spake  often  one  to  another,  and  the  Lord 
hearkened,  and  a  Book  of  remembrance  was 
^vritten  before  him  for  them  that  feared  the 
Lord  and  that  thought  upon  his  name."  Truly, 
a  reiteration  of  the  words  of  Moses,  containing 
the  same  glorious  promise  to  the  good  and 
risfhteous. 

o 

"PROFANE  HISTORY  further  yields  ample  evi- 
dence that  the  Biblical  teachings  of  immortality 
were  not  lost  upon  the  Jewish  nation.  During 
long  years  thousands  died  for  their  religion,  and 
by  their  willing  martyrdom  not  only  proved  their 
love  and  trust  in  the  One  sole  God,  but  also 
practically  demonstrated  their  belief  in  a  future 

and  happier  state.   To  those  who  thus  perished, 

H 


98  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"death  was  not  annihilation,  but  an  entrance  into 
realms  of  bliss.  The  writings  of  the  learned 
Israelites  of  successive  generations  give  addi- 
tional testimony  that  this  belief  has  never  been 
extinct  in  the  nation.  And  finally,  as  a  con- 
clusive proof  that  the  immortality  of  the  soul  is, 
and  ever  was,  an  essential  principle  among  the 
Jews,  we  need  only  turn  to  the  thirteen  funda- 
mental articles  of  their  faith  wherein  this  belief 
is  clearly  embodied.  Now,  had  not  Moses  in 
his  five  Books  inculcated  this  doctrine,  had  it 
been  a  mere  instinct  or  the  offshoot  of  another 
creed,  this  tenet  could  not  possibly  have  found 
a  place  there.  Assuredly,  that  which  Moses 
taught  or  commanded,  and  nothing  else,  forms 
the  basis  of  the  Jewish  Faith.  To  his  teachings, 
then,  is  this  belief  due,  and  if  it  has  in  a  measure 
grown  and  strengthened  in  successive  genera- 
tions, such  is  but  the  natural  consequence  of  the 
increase  of  enlightenment,  and  the  ever-growing 
supremacy  of  reason  and  Faith." 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  99 


CHAPTER  V. 

Having  passed  in  review  several  important 
•enactments  and  tenets  embodied  in  the  belief 
of  the  pious  Israelite,  and  given  especial  atten- 
tion to  those  laws  and  statutes  which  are  the 
very  basis  of  the  Mosaic  religion  and  have 
remained  intact  during  ages  of  tribulation  and 
persecution,  it  may  now  be  well  to  consider 
the  beneficial  and  highly  moral  influence  these 
latter  have  exercised  on  the  Jewish  nation  ever 
since  their  promulgation,  and  as  this  can  best 
be  accomplished  by  the  light  of  biography,  we 
will  summon  a  host  of  Jewish  celebrities  whose 
united  examples  cannot  fail  to  prove  a  tower  of 
strength,  since  each  one  has  clearly  demon- 
strated through  his  individual  life,  that  those 
laws  have  sufficed  to  form  a  truly  moral, 
virtuous,  exalted  character,  and  have  further 
conduced  to  develop  the  highest  intellectual 
powers. 

Referring,  firstly,  to  Biblical  History,  it  is 
easy  to  perceive  what  a  beneficial  influence  the 


ioo  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


Mosaic    Code   exercised   at   all    those   periods 
when    the    Israelites    followed    the    prescribed 
ordinances,  and  possibly  this  was   never  more 
marked  than  during  the  first  half  century  after 
the  Exodus  from  Egypt.     The  following  words 
of  Joshua — "  Ye  have  kept  all  that  Moses,  the 
servant  of  the  Lord,  commanded  you. 
Cleave  unto  the   Lord  your  God,  as  ye  have 
done  unto  this  day,"  uttered  only  some  forty 
years  after  the  deliverance  of  the  poor  down- 
trodden slaves,  would  not  fail  to  create  surprise, 
if  we    could   allow   ourselves   to   believe   that 
the   moral    improvement   here    notified  in   the 
character  of  the  succeeding  generation  was  due 
to   any  adventitious   cause,   ignoring   the   true 
one,  viz., — the  strict  observance  of  the  sublime 
laws  given  direct  from  Heaven,  which  had  been 
rigidly  enjoined  by  its  first  recipients  on  their 
offspring.     Then  it  is  on  record  how  high  the 
nation  rose  some  years  later,  when,  after  relaps- 
ing into  idolatry,  they  once  again  sought  their 
God,  and  followed   His  statutes  as  prescribed 
by  Samuel ;  indeed,  throughout  the  whole  Bibli- 
cal history,  it  is  clearly  discernible   that  they 
became  the  more  prosperous    and    mighty   in 
proportion   as  they  observed   God's  wise  and 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  101 

gracious  ordinances.  This  is  evident  as  we 
pass  in  review  the  reigns  of  David,""  Solomon, 
Hezekiah,  Josiah,  at  which  times  they  reared 
their  heads  high,  and  made  themselves  respected 
or  feared  by  every  surrounding  nation. 

Further,  if  we  merely  glance  over  the  names 
of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  Israelites  of 
old,  and  mark  their  many  estimable  traits  of 
character  and  their  many  virtues,  we  must 
arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  it  was  simply 
necessary  to  follow  implicitly  the  heavenly- 
given  code  in  order  to  reach  the  highest  moral 
excellence  and  take  foremost  rank  among  the 
best,  the  noblest,  who  have  adorned  the  world's 
history.  And  here  it  may  be  mentioned  it  was 
with  this  object  the  author  of  these  pages 
entered  at  some  length  on  a  biographical  sketch 
of  most  of  the  scriptural  characters  in  his  work 
entitled  "Moral  Biblical  Gleanings  and  Practical 
Teachings  ;"  and  as  this  book  could  be  referred 
to,  it  will  here  suffice  to  bring  into  prominence 


*It  may  be  well  to  remark  that  the  Exodus  from 
Egypt  was  in  1490  B.C.,  while  the  reign  of  David  began 
in  1060,  for  we  may  thus  perceive  that  it  only  required 
430  years  to  effect  a  most  marvellous  transformation,  the 
Israelitish  nation  being  at  the  very  zenith  of  its  power  and 
grandeur  at  the  later  date. 


IO2  The  yewish  Armoury. 

a  few  of  those  faithful  servants  of  God  who 
regulated  their  lives  in  accordance  with  His 
laws,  and  through  some  transcendent  virtue, 
or  some  memorable  deed,  have  bequeathed  an 
invaluable  lesson  to  posterity  and  left  behind 
them  an  imperishable  name.  Could  we  possibly 
begin  with  a  better  example  than  that  of  the 
Great  Lawgiver  himself — MOSES,  the  meekest 
of  men  ?  Did  he  not  by  his  self-abnegation, 
his  forbearance  under  the  severest  provocation, 
expound  the  sublime  precept  (Lev.  ch.  19, 
v.  xviii.),  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself"  ?  a  precept  which  takes  precedence  in 
moral  ethics,  and  which  was  first  promulgated 
by  him  who  well  knew  how  to  practice  what  he 
taught.  Take  next  the  following  lives,  and 
surely  we  must  acknowledge  that  in  every 
instance  the  distinctive  features  of  each  cha- 
racter are  based  on  principles  derived  from  the 
Mosaic  Code.  In  the  dauntless  Joslma  we 
mark  courage,  disinterestedness,  and  a  love  of 
duty  ;  in  the  zealous  Phinehas,  we  find  a  proved 
champion  of  moral  right ;  in  the  pious  Samuel, 
a  spotless  integrity  ;  in  the  God-fearing  David, 
holy  faith,  earnestness  in  right  doing  and  sincere 
repentance  after  transgression ;  in  the  Godly 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  103 

Elijah,  a  bold  reprover  of  kings  and  zealous 
servant  of  the  Most  High  ;  in  the  true-hearted 
Elisha,  a  dutiful  and  loving  son,  a  generous 
and  forgiving  spirit,  one  who  counselled  the 
free  dismissal  of  captive  foes  and  personal 
enemies  after  conferring  benefits  on  'them  ; 
in  the  prayful  Jeremiah,  a  true  patriot,  un- 
daunted by  threats  and  piously  submissive 
under  trials  and  calamaties,  bearing  ill-deserved 
scorn  and  contumely  with  dignified  magnani- 
mity ;  in  the  humble  Mordecai,  we  note  a  man 
who  disdained  to  be  a  sycophant  and  bow  to 
greatness  ;  and  again,  in  the  "  greatly  beloved" 
Daniel,  who  in  a  land  of  idolatry  remained 
faithful  to  his  God  and  faced  without  dismay 
perils  attendant  on  his  conscientious  allegiance 
to  the  Most  High. 

We  will  now  pass  from  Biblical  to  profane 
History,  and  briefly  sketch  forth  in  chronological 
order  such  important  events,  with  their  con- 
sequent change  in  the  condition  of  the  nation, 
as  owe  their  origin,  either  to  a  religious  move- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  entire  Jewish  people, 
or  to  the  impulse  given  by  some  individual 
member  thereof  through  his  courage,  learning, 
or  religious  zeal. 


IO4  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

Commencing  this  necessarily  condensed  com- 
mentary at  the  period  of  the  building  of  the 
second  Temple,  which  was  accomplished  after 
some  years,  in  spite  of  innumerable  obstacles 
and  various  impediments  placed  in  the  way 
by  both  internal  and  external  foes,  we  must 
remark  that  this  great  and  glorious  achieve- 
ment was  due  chiefly  to  the  fervour,  courage 
and  persistency  of  Ezra,  combined  with  an 
energetic  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  entire  com- 
munity worthy  of  the  high  intent.  From  the 
moment  of  its  dedication,  true  piety  pre- 
dominated over  idolatry,  and  the  sabbaths  and 
festivals  were  kept  "  with  joy."  Some  twenty 
years  later,  Alexander  the  Great  visited  this 
Jewish  Temple,  and  although  he  came  as  a  foe, 
he  nevertheless  departed  as  a  friend,  owing  to 
the  respect  with  which  the  High  Priest  had  in- 
spired him.  After  this  incident,  not  ten  years 
elapsed  before  Judea  became  a  prey  to  various 
rapacious  and  ambitious  foreign  Monarchs,  who, 
with  vast  armies,  over-ran  and  conquered  the 
country,  then  depopulated  it  by  carrying  away 
with  them  hundreds  of  thousands  of  captives  as 
slaves.  This  state  of  warfare  lasted  with  little 
intermission  some  180  years,  when  up  rose  the 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  105 

heroic  family  of  the  Maccabees,  and  through 
the  valor  and  strategic  ability  of  JUDAH 
MACCABEE,  the  Syrians  were  defeated  with 
great  slaughter.""  When  once  peace  was  re- 
established, this  chivalrous  patriot  caused  the 
Temple  to  be  purified  and  Divine  worship 
restored,  and  during  the  six  years  that  he 
administered  the  affairs  of  Judea,  his  merits, 
military,  civil  and  religious,  were  gladly 
acknowledged  by  the  whole  population.  Great 
indeed,  were  the  services  he  rendered  his 
country,  for  he  had  found  it  depopulated,  the 
fields  lying  waste,  commerce  utterly  paralyzed, 
and  ruin  general,  whilst  at  his  death  agriculture 
was  again  progressing,  commerce  had  com- 
pletely revived,  life  and  property  were  secure, 
and  the  land  teeming  with  population  ;  Judah 
Maccabees  was,  indeed,  a  true  champion  of 
Israel,  and  the  revival  of  a  devout  spirit 
throughout  the  nation  was  greatly  due  to  his 

0  And  unequal  indeed  on  one  occasion  was  the 
contest,  the  Hebrew  army  consisting"  of  only  eight 
hundred  men  against  thirty  times  that  number  of  well- 
trained  Syrian  troops  !  Surely  no  such  feat  of  arms  is 
upon  record,  if  we  except  the  noted  one  of  the  three 
hundred  Spartans  at  Thermopylae.  And,  indeed,  what 
but  love  of  country  and  love  of  God  could  induce  eight 
hundred  men  to  face  such  fearful  odds  ! 


io6  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

zeal  and  earnestness  in  the  cause  of  religion. 
At  his  decease  he  was  deeply  and  deservedly 
mourned  by  the  entire  community. 

Twenty-six  years  later  the  Roman  rule  com- 
menced, and  many  were  the  trials  the  Jews  had 
to  undergo  during  the  supremacy  of  that  nation, 
which,  after  lasting  just  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years,  culminated  in  a  revolt  of  the  whole 
Jewish  population.  This  was  especially 
fomented  by  the  extreme  cruelty  of  the  Roman 
Governor,  Florus,  who  executed  many  of  the 
nobility,  massacred  some  twenty  thousand  of 
the  people,  and  sent  large  numbers  to  the 
galleys.  To  quell  this  insubordination,  vast 
armies  were  poured  into  the  country  and  fearful 
was  the  slaughter  of  the  Israelites,  forty  thousand 
falling  during  the  gallant  defence  of  Jotapala. 
On  one  battle  field  alone  thirty-six  thousand 
were  taken  prisoners,  then  sold  for  slaves,  and 
finally  A.D.  68,  Jerusalem  was  taken,  and  the 
Temple  burnt  to  the  ground.""  We  find  here 

*  If  it  were  needed  to  prove  the  steadfast  devotion 
of  the  Jew  to  his  country  and  his  religion,  it  would  be 
enough  to  state  the  fact  that  before  Judea  was  finally 
subjugated,  about  one  million  and  a  half  of  this  devoted 
people  perished,  only  one  hundred  thousand  submitting- 
to  their  conquerors. 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  107 

no  cowardly  submission,  but  rather  a  heroism 
which  could  only  have  derived  its  vigor  from 
the  purest  patriotism  and  a  fervor  inspired  by 
the  holy,  the  sublime  Mosaic  religion. 

It  was  just  one  hundred  years  after  the  death 
of  Judah  Maccabee,  that  the  college  of 
HILLEL  flourished.  And  mark  the  favourite 
precepts  which  this  truly  pious  and  enlightened 
Israelite  inculcated  in  his  disciples,  "Love 
peace  and  pursue  it  ;  love  mankind  and  caiise 
them  to  approach  the  law ;"  and  "  Let  thy 
conduct  towards  all  men  be  regulated  by  the 
dictates  of  mercy  and  justice."  A  worthy 
teacher  truly  !  A  few  years  later,  during  the 
reign  of  Adrian,  the  Jews  had  to  bow  before 
the  most  cruel  prohibitions,  indeed,  they  were 
not  allowed  to  practice  or  observe  their  most 
sacred  rites,  instant  death  following  upon  any 
infringement  of  the  King's  commands,  and  it 
was  at  this  season  of  severe  trial  that  the 
custom  was  introduced  of  reading  sections  from 
the  Prophets  during  divine  service  in  lieu  of 
portions  of  the  law  which  had  been  arbitrarily 
interdicted.  During  this  period  of  persecution 
and  tribulation,  flourished  Rabbi  AKIBA,  who, 
after  benefiting  his  co-religionists  by  his  pious 


io8  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

labours  and  "  constructing  a  fence  round  the 
law,"  was  put  to  a  cruel  death  together  with 
nine  other  sages  of  note.  But  better  times 
were  at  hand,  and  this  change  was  chiefly 
owing  to  Rabbi  JUDAH,  the  Prince,  who 
through  his  virtue,  piety,  and  learning,  obtained 
the  esteem  and  respect  of  Antoninus  Pius  and 
three  successive  Emperors,  during  whose  reigns 
the  Jews  enjoyed  all  the  rights  of  their  Roman 
fellow-citizens,  while  they  were  exempted  from 
every  duty  which  was  incompatible  with  their 
religion.  This  was  a  boon  indeed,  and  solely 
due  to  the  especial  merit  of  one  individual ! 
Among  the  various  benefits  conferred  on  the 
Jewish  nation  by  this  holy  Rabbi,  must  be 
numbered  the  composition  of  the  Misna  (written 
in  the  year  141)  a  work  of  untold  merit  and 
usefulness.  And  now,  before  passing  over  a 
period  of  328  years,  wherein  little  else  is  to  be 
noted  than  cruelty  and  persecution  to  the  Jews 
in  whatsoever  land  they  were  located,  it  should 
be  observed  that  they  ever  adhered  faithfully 
to  their  religion.  Just  363  years  after  the 
Misna  was  written,  the  Talmud — that  work  of 
past  ages  and  of  sages — was  completed,  and 
glancing  onwards,  we  find  that  in  the  year 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  109 

590,  a  kindly  spirit  toward  the  Jews  began  to 
permeate  through  Christian  countries,  for 
they  were  permitted  to  re-open  their  colleges 
and  received  especial  favour  both  at  the  hand 
of  King  Honidus  III.  and  of  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great.  However,  at  the  opening  of  the 
Mahometan  ^Era  (622)  gloom  again  over- 
shadowed the  prospects  of  the  Jews,  who  were 
persecuted,  and  in  some  instances  put  to  the 
sword,  on  account  of  their  refusal  to  abandon 
the  faith  of  their  forefathers  and  adopt  the  new 
religion. 

Nevertheless,  a  nation  so  stedfast  to  that 
covenant  which  had  already  endured  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  were  not  to  be  thus  crushed  and 
exterminated.  At  once  heroes  and  martyrs,, 
they  resolutely  resisted  all  compulsion,  doubtless 
bearing  in  mind  the  memorable  words  of 
Joshua — ch.  23,  v.  vi.,  "  Be  ye  very  courageous 
to  keep  and  to  do  all  that  is  written  in  the  Book  of 
the  Law  of  Moses ;  that  ye  turn  not  aside 
therefrom  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left." 

For  nearly  a  century  after  this  period  the 
Jews,  then  dispersed  over  Europe,  were  rarely 
permitted  to  have  a  permanent  abode,  for  at 
the  mere  instigation  of  any  foe,  fanatic,  or 


no  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

calumniator,  they  were  invariably  expelled  from 
their  homesteads  after  being  mulcted  of  the 
greater  portion  of  their  hard-earned  wealth. 
During  these  dark  ages  religion  was  almost 
disregarded,  and  the  Holy  Volume  might  have 
been  lost  to  mankind  but  for  the  Jews,  who 
treasured  it  and  never  failed  to  read  it  in  their 
Synagogues.  To  their  consistency  and  for- 
titude, to  their  firm  determination  to  sacrifice 
everything  rather  than  their  belief,  and  to  their 
love  of  the  sacred  heritage  which  God  had 
entrusted  to  their  safe  keeping,  was  greatly  due 
the  preservation  of  the  Bible  and  that  moral 
light,  which,  again  breaking  on  the  world,  shone 
brighter  and  brighter  with  little  intermission  in 
succeeding  centuries. 

But  in  the  year  714  the  Jews  again  found 
settled  homes,  for  the  Moors,  on  conquering 
Spain,  not  only  permitted  them  to  reside  within 
its  borders,  but  even  protected  and  favoured 
them.  Two  hundred  and  thirty-four  years, 
however,  elapsed  before  a  Jewish  college  was 
founded  (948),  but  shortly  after  its  establish- 
ment at  Cordova,  a  galaxy  of  talent  was  to  be 
found  within  its  walls,  a  circumstance  which  was 
partially  due  to  the  closing  of  the  Babylonian 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  1 1 1 

College,  when  very  many  of  its  members,  re- 
nowned for  their  profound  erudition,  emigrated 
to  Spain,  and  there  issued  to  the  world  many 
works  of  undoubted  value  in  every  branch  of 
learning.  Their  ranks  were  further  swelled 
some  few  years  later  by  the  arrival  of  many 
learned  Rabbis  from  Persia,  where  the  followers 
of  Moses  were  again  undergoing  cruel  persecu- 
tions. During  the  next  century  and  a  half  the 
Jews  lived  as  peaceful  citizens  in  the  Iberian 
Peninsula.  They  took  no  part  in  the  unceasing 
struggle  for  power  between  the  Christian 
Monarchs  and  the  Saracen  Chieftains,  but  by 
their  learning  and  industry  did  such  good 
service  to  the  country  as  to  gain  the  esteem 
and  favour  of  both  Christians  and  Mahometans. 
Very  many  Israelites  of  distinguished  talent 
flourished  at  this  period,  and  took  rank  as 
eminent  statesmen,  philosophers,  theologians, 
astronomers,  mathematicians,  physicians,  poets, 
and  linguists.  Among  the  most  eminent  of 
these  may  be  mentioned  SOLOMON  BEN 
GABRIOL,  SAMUEL  A.  LEVI,  ISAAC  BEN  MOSES, 
and  more  especially  the  two — MOSES  ABEN  EZRA, 
whose  sublime  poetic  compositions  have  been 
transmitted  to  us  as  an  heirloom,  and  form  a 


ii2  The  Jewish  Armoiiry. 

part  of  the  ritual  of  the  Synagogue  at  the 
present  day  ;  and  SAMUEL  I  BEN  NAGRELA,  who 
was  Minister  of  State  for  thirty  years,  and 
gave  entire  satisfaction  to  the  several  ruling 
monarchs.  He  was  considered  the  first  Mezzo- 
fante,  being  master  of  ten  languages  ;  he  was 
also  a  voluminous  writer.  His  nobleness  of 
character,  his  disinterestedness,  his  freedom 
from  all  arrogance  or  haughtiness  in  his  high 
station,  his  devotion  to  his  people,  as  well  as  to 
their  moral  and  intellectual  welfare,  and  yet 
more,  his  true  piety  made  him  beloved  and 
respected  by  all,  and  at  his  death  he  was 
mourned  by  the  whole  population  of  Granada. 
Truly,  this  was  a  golden  era  in  the  history  of 
the  Spanish  Jews,  and  indeed  in  most  parts  of 
Europe.  This  much-enduring  people  then 
lived  peacefully  and  unmolested,  while  they 
remained  ever  faithful  to  the  observances  and 
inculcations  of  their  religion. 

A  change,  however,  occurred  about  the  year 
1096,  which  seriously  affected  almost  the  entire 
Hebrew  nation,  and  was  heralded  by  the  out- 
break of  the  Crusades,  otherwise  termed  the 
Holy  War  !  This  began  by  the  massacre  of  the 
Israelites  over  most  parts  of  Europe,  but  it  was 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  113 


especially  in  Germany  that  the  most  horrible 
carnage  ensued,  The  barbarity  of  the  infuri- 
ated fanatics  was  then  appalling,  it  knew  no 
bounds ;  and  although  many  bishops  exerted 
themselves  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  there  was 
little  cessation  to  the  fearful  sufferings  and 
misery  of  the  Jews  ;  howrever,  like  true  martyrs 
and  heroes,  they  yielded  up  their  lives  as  a 
voluntary  sacrifice  at  the  shrine  of  their  religious 
belief,  and  were  inhumanly  butchered  by 
thousands. 

On  the  commencement  of  the  second  Holy 
War  some  fifty  years  later  (1146),  this  unfortu- 
nate people  again  had  almost  everywhere  to 
encounter  the  fury  of  the  general  populace,  and 
but  for  the  noted  St.  Bernard,  who  befriended 
them,  their  fate  would  have  been  no  less  sad 
than  before  ;  indeed,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Crusades,  just  ten  years  after  the  time  that 
Saladin  took  Jerusalem  (1187),  their  position 
throughout  most  European  countries,  but 
especially  in  England  and  France,  was  most 
critical ;  frequently  fined,  plundered,  and  tortured 
without  provocation,  they  seemed  to  be  at  the 
mercy  of  every  foe,  whilst  every  man's  hand  was 
upraised  against  them. 


H4  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

Now,  notwithstanding  this  persecution,  they 
rose  higher  in  various  branches  of  science  and 
learning  at  this  sad  and  gloomy  period  of  their 
history  than  during  several  preceding  centuries. 
Very  many  eminent  Jews,  the  ornaments  of  their 
age,  then  flourished,  whose  works  shed  an  im- 
perishable lustre  on  Hebrew  literature.  Among 
these  was  ABRAHAM  BEX  EZRA,  who  excelled 
as  a  philosopher,  astronomer,  physician,  poet, 
and  linguist,  whilst  his  writings  were  both 
numerous  and  diversified.  But  the  star  that 
shone  brightest  in  the  galaxy  of  talent  was 
MAIMONIDES,  the  most  eminent  philosopher  of 
his  age.  No  obstacles  could  daunt  him  in  his 
self-imposed  vocation,  that  of  acquiring  and  im- 
parting deep  learning,  and  when  forced  to  quit 
Spanish  soil,  after  an  ignorant  and  bigoted 
populace  had  burnt  no  less  than  forty  Syna- 
gogues, and  murdered  large  bodies  of  his  co- 
religionists, he  repaired  to  Cairo,  where  he 
opened  an  academy  of  philosophy  and  Hebrew, 
to  which  his  fame  attracted  numerous  disciples. 
His  marvellous  mental  powers  shortly  brought 
him  into  notice,  and  finally  he  was  promoted  to 
the  high  post  of  Minister  of  State.  His  various 
works  on  Theology,  Logic,  Medicine,  Astronomy, 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  115 

and  Philosophy  have  been  universally  admired, 
and  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  he  had 
advanced  in  knowledge  far  beyond  his  time,  and 
had  no  compeer  either  in  his  nation  or  his  age. 
Milman,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  vol.  3, 
thus  writes  concerning  him  : — "  The  wise  Mai- 
monides,  the  first  who,  instead  of  gazing  with 
blind  adoration  and  unintelligent  wonder  at  the 
great  fabric  of  the  Mosaic  law,  dared  to  survey 
it  with  the  searching  eye  of  reason,  and  was 
rewarded  by  discovering  the  indelible  marks  of 
the  Divine  wisdom  and  goodness."  Not  only 
did  he  remain  steadfast  to  his  religion,  but  he 
also  exhorted  his  brethren  in  faith  to  adhere 
strictly  to  their  belief,  and  all  his  works  clearly 
show  forth  the  beauty,  the  sublimity  of  the 
Mosaic  dispensation.  While  renowned  for  a 
learning  that  has  rarely  or  never  been  surpassed, 
and  a  liberality  of  views  most  rare  in  those  days, 
his  meed  of  praise  assuredly  does  not  rest  there, 
for  besides  being  a  man  of  comprehensive 
erudition,  he  proved  himself  to  be  possessed  of 
deep,  earnest,  religious  feelings,  as  testified  by 
his  unblemished  life ;  ambition  never  swayed 
his  mind,  while  the  passions  of  anger  and 
revenge  were  alike  strangers  to  him.  He  ob- 


n6  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

served  every  ordinance  of  his  faith  with  the 
utmost  rigour,  visited  the  tomb  of  the  Patriarchs 
at  Hebron,  frequently  fasted,  devoting  the  day 
to  prayer,  and  ever  sought  to  relieve  the  poor 
and  distressed.  To  this  excellent  and  pious 
man  the  Jews  owe  the  composition  of  the 
thirteen  "  Articles  of  Faith,"  which  must  ever 
form  a  portion  of  the  ritual  of  the  Synagogue. 
His  "Commentary  on  the  Mishna"  was  acknow- 
ledged by  his  contemporaries,  as  well  as  by 
posterity  to  be  a  master-piece  of  the  utmost 
importance,  and  again,  his  "  Mishna  Torah,"  a 
book  in  which  he  compiled  the  entire  Talmudic 
laws  and  simplified  them,  was  equally  useful  and 
worthy  of  his  high  repute.  His  death,  which 
took  place  in  the  year  1 204,  was  considered  a 
national  misfortune  by  the  Egyptians,  as  well  as 
by  the  Jews;  they  observed  a  general  mourning 
for  three  days  and  called  it  the  lamentable  year, 
whilst  a  fast  was  observed  at  Jerusalem.  Here, 
indeed,  was  one  of  the  shining  lights  in  Israel, 
a  light  which  the  surrounding  darkness  was 
powerless  to  dim  or  obscure,  and  as  the  truly 
virtuous  and  devout  Jew,  Maimonides  has 
thrown  a  glorious  halo  over  the  entire  Jewish 
nation. 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  117 

It  was  about  the  year  1200  that  the  condition 
of  the  Jews  was  again  ameliorated  in  many 
countries  of  Europe.  The  great  and  good 
King  Phillip  Augustus,  towards  the  close  of  his 
reign,  invited  them  to  return  to  France,  and  gave 
them  many  privileges  ;  Pope  Innocent  III.,  one 
of  the  most  enlightened  men  that  had  ever 
existed,  also  befriended  them  ;  even  the  rapa- 
cious King  John  of  England  granted  them  a 
charter,  wherein  they  were  exempted  from  many 
past  restrictions  and  allowed  certain  covetted 
advantages,  among  which  was  the  power  of  the 
Rabbis  to  decide  differences  in  accordance  with 
the  Jewish  law ;  all  of  which  privileges  were, 
however,  paid  for,  though  faithlessly  withheld 
at  times.  Frederick  II.  of  Germany  also  de- 
fended them  against  oppression  and  ill-treat- 
ment, while  Alphonso  IX.  of  Spain  showed 
them  peculiar  favour,  exonerating  them  from 
the  payment  of  tithes,  permitting  them  to 
acquire  landed  property,  and  protecting  them  in 
the  free  exercise  of  theirreligion.  But  in  England 
this  happier  state  of  things  only  lasted  about 
30  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  the 
Jews  again  had  to  submit  to  extortion,  nor  were 
they  spared  fresh  indignities,  their  Synagogues 


n8  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

being  confiscated  and  turned  into  churches ; 
indeed,  their  lot  would  have  been  still  more 
deplorable  but  for  Pope  Gregory  IX.,  who  up- 
held their  cause,  and  made  a  formal  protest 
against  such  acts  of  spoliation.  The  year 
1236  also  proved  a  memorable  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  Spanish  Jews.  The  Caliphs  of 
the  Moorish  provinces  had  to  surrender  Cor- 
dova, the  capital,  to  the  victorious  forces  of 
King  Ferdinand,  and  then,  seeing  only  fresh 
trials  and  calamities  awaiting  them  by  this 
change  of  dynasty,  the  Jews  quitted  with  regret 
that  city  which  had  become  dear  to  them  from 
the  tranquillity  they  had  there  enjoyed  for 
centuries  under  the  Moslem  rule,  and  "  through 
the  reminiscences  of  the  glory  shed  by  their 
scholars  on  the  literary  character  of  the  Hebrew 
nation.""1 

We  may  well  pass  over  the  next  1 70  years, 
during  which  long  term  the  Jews  had  to  submit 
to  every  class  of  extortion  and  were  made  to 
suffer  fearfully  throughout  the  European  conti- 
nent. They  encountered  every  conceivable 
hindrance  to  the  acquirement  of  wealth  and  to  the 
cultivation  of  knowledge,  and  to  this  cause  must 
*  E.  H.  Lindo's  "  History  of  the  Jews  of  Spain." 


The  Jewish  Armwiry.  *    119 


be  attributed  the  paucity  of  distinguished  hebra- 
ists  and  linguists  who  flourished  at  this  period. 
But  though  weighed  down  by  systematic 
oppression  and  untold  barbarities,  the  chosen 
people  nevertheless  remained  true  to  their  faith, 
and  numbers  perished  for  its  sake.  But  in  the 
beginning  of  the  i5th  century  there  was  a 
slight  improvement  in  their  condition  in  some 
of  the  smaller  states  of  Europe — notably,  in  the 
city  of  Bologna,  where  a  magnificent  Synagogue 
was  erected  by  the  Jews,  and  every  protection 
and  encouragement  afforded  them,  whilst  at 
Venice  they  were  even  permitted  to  establish  a 
Bank.  Pope  Nicholas  V.  not  only  protected 
the  Jews  in  his  own  dominions,  but  befriended 
them  at  the  Courts  of  Spain  and  France,  where 
prejudice,  intolerance,  and  fanaticism  were  still 
rampant,  and  showed  their  venom  in  deeds 
of  rapacity  and  violence  ;  while  Louis  X.  of 
Bavaria  (1454)  mercilessly  ordered  the  whole 
of  his  Jewish  subjects,  located  in  no  less  than 
forty  cities,  to  quit  his  territory  in  one  day ! 
Nor  was  this  cruel  expulsion — the  more  crue^ 
because  so  sudden — confined  to  that  country 
alone  :  the  example  was  followed  at  Trent,  in 
Silesia,  and  finally  in  Spain  (1492),  where  the 


I2O  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

numberless  benefits  conferred  on  the  country 
in  past  centuries  by  illustrious  Jews,  through  the 
medium  of  commerce,  navigation,  medicine, 
literature,  and  science,  were  altogether  forgotten 
or  ignored.  The  spirit  of  fanaticism,  led  by 
that  bloodthirsty  and  intolerant  monster  of 
iniquity,  the  Inquisitor  Torquamada,  counter- 
acted all  other  considerations,  and  without  the 
slightest  provocation  on  the  part  of  the  Jews, 
on  a  fixed  day  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  families,  or  about  eight  hundred 
thousand  souls,  were  forced  to  quit  that  soil 
upon  which  numerous  generations  of  their 
ancestors  had  flourished  and  been  laid  to  rest, 
many,  very  many,  to  perish  miserably  at  sea, 
the  remainder  to  undergo  innumerable  priva- 
tions and  trials  before  finding  a  new  home  in 
distant  lands. 

We  may  here  quote  an  important  extract  on 
this  subject  from  the  writings  of  the  chief  actor 
in  the  drama,  DON  ISAAC  ABARBANEL,  then 
finance  minister  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,— 
"  I  was  at  court  and  weaned  myself  to  phrenzy 
with  entreaties,  but,  as  the  deaf  adder,  the 
King  closed  his  ear,  the  Queen  persuading  him 
with  all  her  eloquence  to  pursue  and  accomplish 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  121 


what  he  had  begun.     My  peace,   my  rest,  had 
gone,  trouble  was   now  my  portion.     And  the 
people  bewailed  their  lot  with  great  lamenta- 
tions, they  greatly  mourned  ;  terror  and  distress 
were  upon  them,  the  like  of  which  had  not  been 
since  the  day  that  Judah  had  been  driven  from 
his  land.     They  exhorted  and  encouraged  each 
other  to  be  strong  for  the  sake  of  religion  and 
the  law  of  God,   and  to  defend  them   against 
their   hateful    persecutois.        If  they    leave   us 
with  life  we  will  live,  and  if  they  deprive   us  of 
it,  we  shall  die  ;  but  let  us  not  defile  our  cove- 
nant nor  estrange  our  heart ;  let  us  go  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  our  God.      And  thus  went 
away  in  one  day  from  all  the  royal  provinces, 
young  and  old,   little  ones  and  women,  among 
whom,  I  myself  was,  and  they  went  wherever 
they  could  go."     Truly  at  no  period  of  their 
history  did  the  Jews  show  more  true  devotion 
to  the  religion  of  their  forefathers  than  during 
this  latter  half  century.      Rather  than  abjure 
their   faith,    they   even    submitted    to   become 
victims  to  the  Inquisition,  and  thousands  were 
burnt   alive,    while    thousands  more  were  tor- 
tured and  put  to  the  most  excruciating  agonies 
until  life  was  extinct,  each  one  breathing  in  his 


122  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


mortal  hour  that  prayer  which  solemnly  pro- 
claims the  Unity  of  God.  And  further,  as  we 
have  said,  the  survivors  in  a  body  quitted  the 
land  that  had  harboured  them  for  centuries, 
prepared  to  encounter  trials  and  dangers  rather 
than  become  apostates  to  their  faith,  by  which 
means  they  might  have  gained  permission  to 
remain.  Some  few  years  later,  Portugal  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  Spain,  and  after  despoiling 
the  Jews  in  their  midst,  expelled  them,  no  way 
heeding  how  greatly  the  country  had  been 
enriched  and  benefitted  by  their  persevering 
industry  in  the  fields  of  commerce,  literature, 
and  science.  Now,  what  but  the  knowledge 
of  the  persistency  and  fortitude  which  charac- 
terized the  Jews  of  the  Iberian  peninsula,  would 
enable  us  to  conceive  that,  even  during  this 
season  of  sore  trouble  and  persecution,  literature 
was  not  neglected  ?  Indeed,  far  from  this  being" 
the  case,  no  less  than  thirty-six  members  of  this 
nation  were  distinguishing  themselves  in  various 
branches  of  learning  at  the  very  crisis  of 
their  banishment,  and  among  them  was  ISAAC 
OROBIO,  the  author  of  "  Israel  Defended,"  who, 
in  one  of  his  many  excellent  works,  gave  a  most 
vivid  description  of  the  martyrdom  he  under- 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  123 

went  both  in  prison  and  before  the  dread  Tri- 
bunal presided  over  by  Torquemada. 

The  next  ninety  years  (1496  to  1586)  was  a 
time  of  tribulation  to  the  Jews,  who  found  no 
settled  home  in  all  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Europe,  with  the  exception  of  Poland  and  the 
Netherlands.  Elsewhere  the  fanaticism  of  the 
populace  and  the  greed  of  the  reigning  monarch 
left  them  no  peace  or  repose.  It  was  enough 
for  any  national  misfortune  to  occur,  whether  in 
the  shape  of  some  contagious  disease  such  as 
the  plague,  a  blight,  or  a  deficient  harvest, 
to  attribute  the  blame  to  the  Hebrew  people, 
when  immediately  uprose  a  host  of  cruel  perse- 
cutors, and  sad  indeed  became  their  plight. 
Their  quarters  were  burnt,  together  with  the 
result  of  all  their  literary  labours,  fines  were 
imposed,  tortures  inflicted,  and  in  many  instances- 
they  were  even  banished.  It  was  well  for  these 
forced  exiles  that  Holland  not  only  afforded 
them  a  hospitable  shelter,  but  offered  every 
facility  whereby  they  could  prosecute  their 
several  branches  of  industry  unmolested,  while 
the  path  of  distinction  was  \vide  open  to  them 
—a  path  they  not  only  walked  with  honour  to- 
themselves,  but  with  profit  to  the  entire  com- 


124  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

munity.  It  is  certain  that  to  Jewish  enterprise 
and  intelligence,  notable  alike  on  the  Exchange 
and  in  the  market-place,  was  to  be  attributed 
in  a  great  measure  the  high  commercial  standing 
and  the  commanding  position  Holland  took 
among  the  leading  nations  of  Europe  at  that 
-date.  Under  the  benign  sway  of  the  States- 
General,  the  Israelites  were  enabled  to  open 
Synagogues  and  perform  every  ordinance  of 
their  religion  without  bar  or  hindrance.  Much 
also  did  they  owe  to  the  Reformation,  which 
movement  offered  them  security  from  the 
persecution  of  ignorant  friars  and  bigoted 
Dominican  Monks,  who  were  ever  ready  to 
incite  the  prejudiced  mob  against  them.  Their 
great  acquisition  of  wealth,  with  its  free  dis- 
burse in  luxuries  and  splendour,  incited  no  envy, 
nor  did  the  open  display  of  attachment  to  their 
ancestral  faith  cause  umbrage  in  any  quarter. 
They  lived  in  peace  and  prospered. 

It  was,  however,  only  in  the  year  1586  that 
symptoms  of  an  amelioration  of  their  condition 
in  other  parts  of  Europe  became  manifest,  and 
this  was  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  kindly 
influence  which  the  excellent  Pope,  Sextus  V., 
•exerted  on  their  behalf.  He  revoked  all 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  125 


decrees  against  the  Jews,  admitted  them  into 
every  part  of  the  Ecclesiastical  States,  and 
granted  them  many  privileges,  and  even 
monopolies.  Civilization,  with  its  natural 
fruits,  humanity  and  justice,  had  been  making 
rapid  strides  during  this  half  century,  and  none 
profitted  by  the  happy  change  more  than  the 
hitherto  down-trodden,  persecuted,  and  ill-used 
Israelite.  France  and  Germany  soon  after  saw 
these  sons  of  toil  again  within  their  borders, 
whilst  in  1655  they  were  permitted  to  enter 
England,  chiefly  through  the  influence  of  the 
great  and  distinguished  Rabbi  MANASSAH  BEN 
ISRAEL,  who  pleaded  with  Cromwell  on  behalf 
of  his  co-religionists.  But  the  lot  of  the  Jew 
in  all  these  countries  was  far  from  being 
enviable  during  the  ensuing  hundred  years  ; 
they  lived  in  constant  fear,  often  but  too  well 
grounded,  frequently  had  to  submit  to  taunts 
and  indignities,  and  how  strenuously  soever 
they  might  labour  with  hand  or  brain  for  the 
public  good,  they  dared  not  even  hope,  much 
less  expect,  any  return  in  the  shape  of  prefer- 
ment or  distinction.  Further,  they  were 
constantly  subjected  to  extortion,  and  heavily 
mulcted  by  the  several  Sovereigns,  who,  to 


126  The  Jeivisk  Armoury. 

meet  the  exigencies  of  repeated  wars  of  ag- 
gression, made  them  the  victims  of  their  greed 
for  dominion  and  power. 

Having  now  brought  our  review  up  to  the 
year  1750,  it  may  be  well  to  see  how  far  the 
character  of  the  scattered  Hebrews  had  been 
affected  by  the  ordeals  of  the  past  centuries,  as 
well  as  by  the  scarcely  less  endurable  species  of 
toleration  which  had  been  doled  out  to  them. 
It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  rancour,  the 
contumely,  the  scorn,  which  had  so  long  been 
heaped  upon  them,  did  cause  a  slight  de- 
terioration in  their  character,  and  partially 
sapped  some  of  the  better  qualities  which  had 
distinguished  them  in  happier  days.  But  when 
it  is  considered  that  they  were  by  compulsion 
penned  up  in  the  most  squalid  quarters,  that 
they  were  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  following 
many  an  honest  and  honourable  vocation,  while 
compelled  to  devote  their  whole  energies  to  the 
acquirement  of  money,  since  through  its  agency 
alone  could  they  hope  to  secure  partial  freedom 
from  oppression  and  violence,  assuredly  those 
faults  or  blemishes,  which  have  been  unfairly 
set  down  by  the  prejudiced  as  characteristic 
traits,  are  clearly  attributable  to  those  who,  in  a 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  127 

spirit  of  intolerance,  spurned  and  ill-treated 
them ;  indeed,  the  wonder  is  that  the  Jews 
should  have  retained  so  many  good  qualities 
under  such  adverse  conditions,  except  for  the 
fact  of  their  ever  strict  adherence  to  their  faith, 
and  a  ready  desire  to  follow  implicitly  the 
moral  and  sacred  obligations  inculcated  in  the 
Mosaic  Code.  Clinging  to  their  religion  with 
a  tenacity  to  which  History  offers  no  parallel, 
they  learnt  through  its  sublime  teachings  to 
bear  in  a  meek  and  humble  spirit  that  which 
most  galls  and  depresses  the  mind  of  man,  viz., 
ridicule,  calumny,  hatred,  and  injustice.  This, 
at  least,  is  certain,  that  the  descendants  of 
those  who  in  times  of  the  direst  persecution 
clung  tenaciously  to  their  faith  even  at  the 
expense  of  life  itself,  never  wavered,  though 
contempt  and  ignominy  were  the  sole  rewards 
they  reaped  for  a  strict  adherence  to  that 
religion  in  which  they  conscientiously  believed, 
but  silently,  patiently,  they  "  fought  the  good 
fight,"  and  finally  gained  a  glorious  victory — a 
victory  over  time,  events,  and  prejudice  ;  a 
victory  that  ensured  to  their  offspring  a  goodly 
heritage,  a  precious  heirloom. 

Now,  although  it  must  be  acknowledged  that 


128  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

the  bulk  of  the  Jewish  people  had  lost  under 
sinister  influences  and  discouragements,  some  of 
that  "juste  fierte"  which  marked  the  character 
of  their   ancestors,    it  yet  needs  little  demon- 
stration to  prove   that   enough    elasticity   was 
left  for  them  to  rise  as  soon  as  the  intolerable 
weights  which  had  dragged  them   down  were 
removed  ;  and  for  this  purpose  it  will  suffice  to 
cast  a  glance  on  some  few   important  events 
concerning  the  Jews  that  occurred   after   the 
middle    of    the     iSth    century,    which    indeed 
proved  the  turning  point  in  their  history.    Who 
can  doubt  that  as  good  and  useful  citizens  they 
had  lived  down  prejudice,  when   we  find  that 
not  only  were  equal  privileges  with  their  fellow- 
countrymen  conferred  on  them   by  Joseph   IL 
of  Germany,  (1780),  by  Louis  XVI.  of  France 
(1791),    by   William    IV.   of   England    (1831), 
by   the    Sovereign    of    Denmark    in    1814,    of 
Austria  in  1815,  and  Portugal  in  1820,  but  that 
preferment  was  not  slow  to  follow    in    every 
country,  excepting  indeed,  Russia,  whence  they 
were  expelled  by  Peter  the  Great  ?      Wisely 
profitting  by  the  fair  field  which  had  thus  been 
opened  to  them,  many  Jews  rose  high  in  every 
branch  of  industry  and   in  every  walk  of  life, 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  129 

while  not  a  few  reaped  honours  and  dignities. 
Now  while  civilization,  together  with  a  more 
advanced  standard  of  popular  education,  had  been 
partly  instrumental  in  bringing  about  this  happy 
change,  it  was  likewise  in  no  small  measure  due 
to  the  high  moral  character  and  the  great 
abilities  of  many  individual  Jews,  who,  in- 
defatigable in  cultivating  their  richly  gifted 
minds,  and  ever  sedulous  in  their  various 
pursuits  or  vocations,  helped  to  throw  a  lustre 
on  their  age,  and  thereby  gained  for  themselves, 
as  also  for  their  co-religionists,  the  respect  and 
goodwill  of  the  enlightened  of  all  nations. 

Foremost  among  those  who  adorned  the 
world  at  that  period  of  its  history,  and  gave  an 
impetus  to  the  more  kindly  feeling  towards  the 
Jews,  which  was  gradually  usurping  the  place 
of  prejudice  and  intolerance,  must  undoubtedly 
be  reckoned  Moses  Mendelssohn,  and  we  will 
conclude  this  chapter  with  a  brief  summary  of 
the  life  of  this  distinguished  scholar,  philosopher, 
and  truly  pious  Israelite.  Born  of  humble 
parents,  he  was  early  forced  to  quit  home,  and 
for  years  found  no  settled  resting  place,  or 
employment  which  could  bring  him  means  of 

subsistence,  thence  often  was  he  dependent  on 

K 


130  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

the  charity  of  his  co-religionists.  Nevertheless, 
under  ever-recurring  difficulties  and  discourage- 
ments, he  found  time  to  cultivate  a  highly  gifted 
intellect,  and  by  unceasing  mental  labour, 
became  one  of  the  great  philosophers  of  his  age. 
It  has  been  generally  acknowledged  that  the 
German  language  was  in  part  indebted  to  him 
for  its  development.  He  certainly  was  one  of 
the  most  profound  and  patient  thinkers  of  that 
era,  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  he  was  noted  for 
modesty,  amiability,  and  true  piety.  That  so 
good,  so  religious  a  Jew  should  withstand  every 
effort  which  the  great  Lavater,  with  ill-judged 
zeal,  made  for  his  conversion,  was  a  matter  of 
course  ;  nevertheless,  the  repeated  attacks  upon 
his  belief,  his  conviction,  greatly  distressed  him, 
so  much  so,  indeed,  as  finally  to  undermine  his 
health,  which  he  never  fully  recovered,  though 
he  sought  repose  and  temporarily  desisted  from 
his  mental  labours.  A  few  extracts  from  his 
letters  to  Deacon  Lavater  will  best  serve  to 
illustrate  the  tenor  of  his  life,  since  they  will 
show  the  calibre  of  his  mind,  also  proving  his 
utter  hopelessness,  as  a  Jew,  to  gain  preferment, 
besides  testifying  that  he  not  only  earnestly 
studied  his  religion,  but  when  once  fully  satisfied 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  1 3 1 


•of  its  truth,  he  steadfastly  adhered  to  his  faith 
till  finally  summoned  to  his  eternal  home.  He 
thus  wrote,  "  My  scruples  against  entering  into 
religious  controversy  have  been  neltherweakness 
nor  timidicy.  I  can  say  that  it  was  not  yester- 
day I  began  to  examine  my  religion  ;  for  I  very 
early  felt  the  duty  of  trying  my  opinions  and 
my  actions,  and  if  I  have  devoted  my  leisure 
hours  to  science  and  polite  literature,  it  has 
been  almost  solely  as  a  preparation  to  this 
necessary  trial,  other  motives  I  could  not  have 
had.  In  my  situation,  I  could  not  expect  the 
least  temporal  advantages  from  the  sciences.  I 
knew  too  well  that  I  could  not  find  prosperity 
in  the  world  by  such  means.  And  pleasure, 
oh  !  my  esteemed  philanthropist !  the  condition 
to  which  my  brethren  in  faith  are  condemned 
in  civil  life  is  so  far  removed  from  all  free 
exercises  of  the  powers  of  the  mind,  that  I 
certainly  could  not  increase  my  contentment  by 
learning  to  know  the  rights  of  humanity 
on  their  true  side.  I  avoid  a  nearer 
explanation  on  this  point.  He  who  knows 
our  condition,  and  has  a  humane  heart, 
will  feel  more  than  I  can  express.  After 
the  inquiry  of  many  years,  if  the  ''decision 


13-  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

had  not  been  perfectly  in  favour  of  my  religion 
it  would  have  been  necessarily  known  by 
a  public  act.  I  cannot  imagine  what  should 
bind  me  to  a  religion  in  appearance  so  severe 
and  so  generally  despised,  if  I  were  not  in  my 
heart  persuaded  of  its  truth.  .  .  .  And  I 
here  testify  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  truth, 
your  and  my  Creator  and  Father,  by  whom  you 
have  in  your  dedication  conjured  me,  that  I  will 
retain  my  principles  so  long  as  my  soul  retains 
its  nature.  My  remoteness  from  your  religion, 
which  I  avowed  to  you,  has,  in  the  meanwhile, 
in  no  respect  diminished.  .  .  .  There  are 
certain  inquiries  which  one  must  at  some  time 
of  one's  life  have  ended,  in  order  to  proceed 
further.  I  may  assert  that,  with  respect  to 
religion,  I  have  done  this  several  years  ago. 
I  have  read,  compared,  reflected,  and  held  fast 
to  that  which  I  thought  good.  .  .  .  My 
religion,  my  philosophy,  my  situation  in  civil 
life,  all  give  me  the  strongest  motives  to  avoid 
all  religious  disputes,  and  in  public  writings  to 
speak  only  of  those  truths  which  are  equally 
important  to  all  religions.  ...  I  wish  to 
be  able  to  destroy  the  contemptuous  opinion 
which  is  generally  formed  of  a  Jew  ;  not  by 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  133 

""  controversial  writings,  but  by  virtue.  .  . 
Various  are  the  motives  which  my  religion  and 
my  philosophy  furnish,  and  induce  me  carefully  to 
avoid  religious  disputes,  added  to  the  domestic 
situation  in  which  I  live  amongst  my  fellow- 
men.  I  am  a  member  of  an  oppressed 
people,  who  must  implore  shelter  and  protection 
from  the  ruling  nation,  and  even  this  it  obtains 
not  everywhere,  and  nowhere  without  limita- 
tions. My  brethren  in  faith  are  willing  to  re- 
nounce liberties  which  are  granted  to  all  other 
classes  of  men,  and  are  contented  if  they  are 
tolerated  and  protected.  They  esteem  it  no 
small  act  of  beneficence  in  the  nation  which 
receives  them  only  on  tolerable  conditions,  since, 
in  many  states,  even  residence  is  refused  them. 
,  .  .  But  the  solemn  appeal  of  a  Lavater 
compels  me,  at  last,  openly  to  declare  my  mode 
of  thinking,  that  no  one  may  interpret  a  silence 
too  long  preserved,  into  confession  or  con- 
tempt." And  truly  the  acts  of  Mendelssohn 
corresponded  with  his  words,  for  he  sedulously 
.sought  to  promote  the  instruction  and  well- 
being  of  his  people  ;  he  showed  himself  deeply 
anxious  that  the  rising  generation  should  gain 
the  esteem  of  the  Christian  population,  and 


134  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

thus  be  admitted  into  society  ;  in  a  word,  he 
laboured  to  do  the  largest  amount  of  good  he 
could,  and  met  his  reward  in  so  far  that  he 
secured  many  valued  friends  (Lessing  foremost 
among  them)  and  at  his  death  in  the  5/th  year 
of  his  age  (1786)  was  followed  to  the  grave  by 
many  eminent  statesmen  and  scholars,  as  well 
as  by  a  large  body  of  his  co-religionists.  To 
this  day  the  Jewish  nation  honour  the  name  of 
Mendelssohn,  and  regard  the  memory  of  this 
truly  learned,  worthy,  and  pious  Jew  with  feelings 
of  love,  admiration,  and  gratitude. 

Having  thus  brought  to  a  close  this  short 
biographical  sketch  of  one  of  the  brightest 
luminaries  in  Israel,  it  may  be  well,  in  conclusion, 
to  remark,  that  reference  to  the  last  hundred 
years  of  Jewish  history  is  as  unnecessary  as 
unadvisable,  since  the  fair  and  impartial  views 
entertained  by  many  enlightened  and  un- 
prejudiced Christians  in  regard  to  the  character 
of  our  nation  will  be  found  in  cxtenso  in  the 
third  portion  of  the  next  chapter. 

Without  a  blot  on  our  escutcheon,  and  with  so 
many  gratifying  testimonies  to  Jewish  worth 
from  such  high  sources,  the  Jew  of  the  present 
day  has  indeed  little  to  fear,  but  much,  very 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  135 

much  to  hope,  if  only  he  remains  as  in  the  past, 
true  to  himself,  true  to  his  religion,  true  and 
faithful  to  his  God. 


136  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

It  may  be  as  serviceable  as  interesting  now 
to  take  a  review  of  the  opinions  of  some  of  the 
most  enlightened  and  learned  Christians  on 
three  of  the  subjects  under  consideration  :— 
istly,  The  Unity  of  God;  2ndly,  The  beauty 
and  usefulness  of  the  Mosaic  laws ;  and 
3rdly,  The  Jewish  characteristics,  moral,  in- 
tellectual and  physical  ;  again,  those  extracts 
may  with  advantage  be  supplemented  by  others 
taken  from  works  penned  by  Jews  of  acknow- 
ledged literary  eminence,  and  noted  for  their 
historical  research.  Among  those  Christian 
writers  who  have  treated  on  the  Unity  of  God, 
we  may  mention  the  name  of 

JOHN  LOCKE,  who  thus  wrote : — "  Non 
Trinitas — Because  it  subverteth  the  Unity 
of  God,  introducing  three  Gods.  Because 
it  is  inconsistent  with  the  rule  of  prayer ; 
for,  if  God  be  three  persons,  how  can 
we  pray  to  Him  through  His  Son  for  His 
Spirit  ?"  And  again,  "  There  be  a  multitude 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  137 


""  of  texts  that  deny  those  things  of  Christ  which 
cannot  be  denied  of  God,  and  that  affirm  such 
things  of  him  that  cannot  agree  to  him  if  he 
were  a  person  of  God."  And  in  his  Essay  on 
the  Human  Understanding,  we  read,  "Among 
all  the  ideas  that  we  have,  as  there  is  none 
suggested  to  the  mind  by  more  ways,  so  there 
is  none  more  simple  than  that  of  Unity  or  One. 
It  has  no  shadow  of  variety  or  composition  in 
it  ;  every  object  our  senses  are  employed  about, 
every  idea  in  our  understandings,  every  thought 
in  our  minds,  brings  this  idea  along  with  it, 
and,  therefore,  it  is  the  most  intimate  to  our 
thoughts,  as  well  as  it  is  in  its  agreement  to  all 
other  things,  the  most  universal  idea  we  have." 
Again,  "  Every  deity  that  the  heathen  world 
owned  above  one,  was  an  infallible  evidence  of 
their  ignorance  of  Him,  and  a  proof  that  they 
had  no  true  notion  of  God,  where  unity,  infinity, 
and  eternity  were  excluded." 

MILTOX  has  thus  written,  "  It  is  evident  from 
numberless  passages  of  Scripture,  that  there  is 
but  one  true,  independent,  and  supreme  God  ; 
one  such  as  the  Jews,  the  people  of  God,  have 
always  considered  Him."  Again,  "Since  Christ 
not  only  bears  the  name  of  the  only  begotten 


The  Jcivish  Armoury. 


"  Son  of  God,  but  is  also  several  times  called 
in  the  Scriptures,  God,  notwithstanding  the 
universal  doctrine  that  there  is  but  one  God,  it 
appeared  to  many  that  there  was  an  incon- 
sistency in  this,  which  gave  rise  to  an  hypothesis,, 
no  less  strange  than  repugnant  to  reason,  that 
the  Son,  although  personally  and  numerically 
another,  was  yet  essentially  one  with  the  Father, 
and  that  thus  the  Unity  of  God  was  preserved. 
But  unless  the  terms  Unity  and  Duality  be  not 
signs  of  the  same  ideas  to  God  which  they  present 
us,  it  would  have  been  to  no  purpose  that  God 
had  so  repeatedly  inculcated  the  First  Com- 
mandment, that  He  was  the  one  and  only  God, 
if  another  could  be  said  to  exist  besides,  who 
also  himself  ou^ht  to  be  believed  in  as  the 

o 

one  God.  .  .  .  Unity  and  Duality  cannot 
consist  of  the  one  and  the  same  substance. 
God  is  one  ens,  not  two,  one  essence,  and  if 
two  persons  be  assigned  to  one  essence,  it 
involves  a  contradiction  of  terms,  by  represent- 
ing the  essence  as  at  once  simple  and  compound. 
If  one  divine  essence  be  common  to  two  persons, 
that  essence  or  divinity  will  either  be  in  a 
relation  of  a  whole  to  its  parts  or  of  a  genus  to  its 
several  species.  .  .  Nothing  can  be  more  clear 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  139 


"  than  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  Scribes  as 
well  as  of  the  other  Jews,  that  by  the  Unity  of 
God  is  intended  the  oneness  of  His  person." 
.  "It  was  fitting  and  highly  agreeable 
to  reason,  that  what  was  the  first,  and  conse- 
quently the  greatest,  Commandment,  scrupulous 
obedience  to  which  was  required  by  God,  should 
be  delivered  in  so  plain  a  manner,  that  nothing 
ambiguous  or  obscure  in  its  terms  could  lead 
His  worshippers  into  error,  or  keep  them  in 
suspense  or  doubt.  And  thus  the  Israelites, 
under  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  always  under- 
stood it  to  mean  that  God  was  numerically  one 
God,  that  besides  Him  there  was  no  other, 
much  less  an  equal.  For  those  disputants  of 
the  school  had  not  yet  appeared,  who,  depending 
on  their  own  sagacity,  or  rather  on  arguments- 
of  a  purely  contradictory  tendency,  cast  a  doubt 
on  that  very  unity  of  God  which  they  pretended 
to  assert.  But  as  the  Diety  can  do  nothing 
which  involves  a  contradiction,  so  also,  nothing 
can  be  said  of  the  one  God  which  is  inconsistent 
with  His  unity,  and  which  implies  at  the  same 
time  the  unity  and  plurality  of  the  Godhead. 
Though  all  this  be  so  self-evident,  it  is  wonder- 
ful with  what  futile  subtleties,  or  rather,  with 


140  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"what  juggling  artifices,  certain  individuals  have 
•endeavoured  to  obscure  or  elude  the  plain 
meaning  of  passages  proclaiming  the  Father 
alone  as  a  self-existent  God."  And  in  his 
"  Paradise  Regained,"  Milton  makes  these  words 
proceed  from  the  mouth  of  the  Deity,  "  This 
perfect  man,  by  merit  called  my  son  ; "  and 
again,  when  addressing  God,  he  says,  "  Him 
second  to  Thee,  offered  to  die,  &c." 

SIR  ISAAC  NEWTON  also  thus  refers  to  the 
Unity  of  God,  "  In  all  that  vehement,  universal, 
and  lasting  controversy  about  the  Trinity  in 
Jerome's  time,  and  both  before  and  long  enough 
after  it,  this  text  of  "  the  Three  in  Heaven," 
was  never  once  thought  of.  It  is  now  in  every 
body's  mouth  and  accounted  the  main  text  for 
the  business,  and  would  assuredly  have  been 
so  too  with  them,  had  it  been  in  their  books." 
Again,  "  Even  Cyprian's  own  words  do  plainly 
make  for  the  interpretation  (three  distinct 
Beings)  as  it  is  in  the  baptism  ;  the  place  from 
which  they  (the  Christians)  tried  at  first  to 
•derive  the  Trinity."  And  again,  in  alluding  to 
I.  Tim.  ch.  3,  v.  xvi.,  '  God  was  manifest  in  the 
flesh,'  he  says,  "In  all  the  times  of  the  hot 
and  lasting  Arian  controversy  it  never  came 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  141 

"  into  play,  though  now  that  those  disputes  are 
over,  it  is  thought  one  of  the  most  pertinent 
texts  for  the  business."  As  has  been  observed, 
"  Newton  could  hardly  have  written  thus  had  he 
not  regarded  these  doctrines  as  gross  corrup- 
tions of  the  primitive  Christian  Faith." 

From  the  Christian  Examiner: — "We  can 
now  bring  forward  the  three  greatest  and  noblest 
minds  of  modern  times,  and  we  may  add  of  the 
Christian  era,  as  witnesses  to  the  great  truth  of 
the  Divine  Unity,  and  with  Milton,  Locke,  and 
Newton,  in  our  front,  we  want  no  others  to 
oppose  to  a  whole  array  of  great  names  on  the 
opposite  side.  They  came  to  this  subject  in 
the  fullness  of  their  strength,  with  free  minds- 
open  to  truth,  and  with  unstained  purity  of  life. 
They  came  to  it  in  an  age  when  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  was  instilled  by  education  and  up- 
held by  the  authority  of  the  Church  and  by 
penal  laws.  *  And  what  did  these  great  and 

°  In  the  Toleration  Act  passed  in  1688,  before 
Newton  had  sent  his  dissertation  to  Locke,  an  exception 
was  made  of  those  who  wrote  against  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  (I.  William  and  Mary,  ch.  xviii.,  s.  17).  In  the 
act  for  the  suppression  of  blasphemy  and  profaneness,  it 
was  provided  that  whoever,  by  printing"  or  advisably 
speaking,  denied  any  one  of  the  persons  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  to  be  God,  should,  for  the  first  offence  be  disabled 
to  have  any  office  or  emolument,  or  any  profits  apper- 
taining thereunto. 


142  The  Jewish  Armoiiry. 


•"  good  men  discover  in  the  Scriptures  ?  A  triple 
divinity  ?  three  infinite  objects  of  worship, 
three  persons,  each  of  whom  possesses  his  own 
•distinct  offices,  yet  shares  in  the  Godhead  writh 
the  rest  ?  No  !  Scripture  taught  them  to  bow 
reverently  before  the  One  Infinite  Father,  and 
to  ascribe  to  Him  alone,  supreme,  self-existent 
•divinity." 

CHANNIXG  in  a  discourse  on  this  subject, 
says,  "  We  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  God's 
Unity,  or  that  there  is  one  God,  and  one  only. 
To  this  truth  we  give  infinite  importance,  and 
it  seems  to  us  exceedingly  plain.  We  object 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  that  whilst 
acknowledging  in  words,  it  subverts  in  effect, 
the  unity  of  God.  According  to  this  doctrine 
there  are  three  infinite  and  equal  persons, 
possessing  supreme  divinity,  called  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  They  performed 
different  parts  in  man's  redemption,  each  having 
his  appropriate  office,  and  neither  doing  the 
work  of  the  other.  The  Son  is  Mediator  and 
not  the  Father.  The  Father  sends  the  Son, 
and  is  not  Himself  sent ;  nor  is  He  conscious, 
like  the  Son,  of  taking  flesh.  Here,  then,  we 
have  three  intelligent  agents,  possessed  of 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  143 


•"  different  consciousness,  different  wills,  perform- 
ing different  acts,  and  sustaining  different 
relations,  and  if  these  things  do  not  imply  and 
constitute  three  minds  or  beings,  we  are  utterly 
at  a  loss  to  know  how  three  minds  or  beings 
are  to  be  formed.  We  are  astonished  that  any 
man  can  read  the  New  Testament  and  avoid  the 
conviction  that  the  Father  alone  is  God,  and 
we  protest  against  the  irrational  and  un- 
scriptural  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  Were  it 
true,  it  must,  from  its  difficulty,  singularity  and 
importance,  have  been  laid  down  with  great 
clearness  and  stated  with  all  possible  precision. 
But  where  does  this  statement  appear  ?  We 
ask  for  one,  one  only,  passage,  in  which  we  are 
told  that  He  is  a  threefold  being,  or  that  He  is 
three  persons  ;  on  the  contrary,  in  the  New 
Testament  He  is  always  spoken  of  in  the 
singular  number.  We  have  further  objections 
to  this  doctrine,  drawn  from  its  practical  in- 
fluence. We  regard  it  as  unfavourable  to 
devotion,  by  dividing  and  distracting  the  mind 
in  its  communion  with  God.  It  is  a  great  ex- 
cellence of  the  doctrine  of  God's  unity,  that  it 
offers  to  us  one  object  of  supreme  homage, 
adoration  and  love.  .  .  .  True  piety,  when 


144  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


"  directed  to  an  undivided  Deity,  has  a  chaste- 
ness,  a  singleness,  most  favourable  to  religious 
awe  and  love.  .  .  .  But  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  injures  devotion,  by  taking  from 
the  Father  the  supreme  affection,  which  is  His 
due,  and  transferring  it  to  the  Son.  This  is  a 
most  important  view.  That  Jesus  Christ,  if 
exalted  into  the  infinite  Divinity,  should  be 
more  interesting  than  the  Father,  is  precisely 
what  might  be  expected  from  the  principles  of 
human  nature.  Men  want  an  object  of  worship 
like  themselves,  and  the  great  secret  of  idolatry 
lies  in  this  propensity.  ...  A  God  clothed 
in  our  form,  and  feeling  our  wants  and  sorrows, 
speaks  to  our  weak  nature  more  strongly  than 
a  Father  in  heaven,  a  pure  spirit,  invisible  and 
unapproachable,  save  by  the  reflecting  and 
purified  mind.  Again,  we  complain  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  that,  not  satisfied  with 
making  God  three  beings,  it  makes  Jesus  Christ 
two  beings,  and  thus  introduces  infinite  con- 

O     * 

fusion  into  our  conceptions  of  his  character. 
.  .  The  doctrine  that  one  and  the  same 
person  should  have  two  consciousnesses,  two 
wills,  two  souls,  infinitely  different  from  each 
other,  this  we  think  an  enormous  tax  on  human 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  145 


"  credulity,  and  if  a  doctrine  so  strange,  so 
difficult,  so  remote  from  all  the  previous  con- 
ceptions of  men,  be  indeed  a  part  and  an 
essential  part  of  revelation,  it  must  be  taught 
with  great  distinctness,  yet  we  do  not  find  any 
plain,  direct  passage  where  Christ  is  said  to  be 
composed  of  two  minds,  yet  constituting  one 
person.  .  .  .  Thus,  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
conciling certain  difficult  passages  ascribing  to 
Jesus  Christ  human  and  other  divine  properties, 
we  must  invent  an  hypothesis  vastly  more 
difficult,  and  involving  gross  absurdity.  We 
are  to  find  our  way  out  of  a  labyrinth  by  a  clue 
which  conducts  us  into  mazes  infinitely  more 
inextricable.  And  again,  in  the  Scriptures  our 
Heavenly  Father  is  always  represented  as  the 
sole  original  spring  and  first  cause  of  our  salva- 
tion, and  let  no  one  presume  to  divide  His  glory 
with  another."  Many  other  passages  to  like 
effect  might  be  selected  from  the  writings  of  this 
eminent  Unitarian,  but  here  is  surely  ample  to 
show  that  enlightened  men  of  the  Christian 
faith  do  not  run  counter  to  the  grand,  the 
fundamental  principle  of  Judaism. 

We  proceed  next  togive  in  a  few  words  the  views 
of  another  and  yet  higher  authority  in  Divinity. 


146  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

DR.  PRIESTLY  wrote:  "The  Hebrew  Scriptures 
declare  that  God  is  one,  and  that  there  is  no 
God  besides  Him.  This  was  a  truth  well  known 
to  the  Jews  from  the  earliest  times.  Jesus 
taught  nothing  new  when  he  upheld  this  great 
doctrine.  The  answer  made  by  the  Jewish 
scribe,  '  Master,  thou  hast  said  the  truth,  for 
there  is  One  God,  and  there  is  none  other  but 
He,'  shows  that  Jesus  and  his  hearers  were 
agreed  on  this  point."  Again,  "  The  most 
essential  articles  of  pure  Christianity  I  consider 
to  be  the  proper  unity  of  God  and  the  proper 
humanity  of  Christ.  The  Unity  of  God  is  a 
doctrine  on  which  the  greatest  stress  is  laid  in 
the  whole  system  of  revelation.  To  guard  this 
most  important  article  was  the  principal  object 
of  the  Jewish  religion.  And  again,  Paul  giving 
what  may  be  called  the  Christian  Creed,  says, 
Tim.  ch.  2,  v.  v.,  *  There  is  one  God  and  one 
Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  man 
Christ  Jesus.'  He  does  not  say,  'the  God,  the 
God-man,'  but  simply  'the  man  Jesus,'  and 
nothing  can  be  alleged  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  favour  of  any  higher  nature  of  Christ, 
except  a  few  passages  interpreted  without  any 
regard  to  the  context." 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  147 

The  Rev.  J.  W.  Fox,  in  a  Lecture  on  this 
subject,  says,  "  The  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
Unity  is  the  centre  of  religious  truth,  the  source 
of  light  and  goodness  in  the  heart.  There  can 
be  but  one  God,  but  one  omnipotent,  infinite, 
uncaused  Being.  This  truth  is  the  religion  of 
the  Bible.  Unitarians  are  not  and  have  not 
been  of  one  opinion  about  any  but  this  funda- 
mental doctrine.  This  one  doctrine  they  find 
taught  through  the  whole  of  Scripture.  Judaism 
is  Unitarian;  its  teachings  in  the  Old  Testament 
are  strongly  Unitarian.  The  New  Testament 
teaches  it  by  direct  assertions,  as  well  as  by  the 
absence  of  all  contradictions  of  it.  The  Ma- 
hommetans  are  strictly  Unitarians.  In  India  and 
China  there  have  been  philosophers  who  taught 
a  pure  worship  of  one  God.  The  wisest  and 
best  philosophers  of  Greece  and  Rome  rose 
above  the  superstitions  of  their  age,  and  taught 
that  there  was  really  but  one  God." 

SELTON  on  Hindus  Worship :  "All  that  has 
been  handed  down  by  oral  tradition  seems  to 
confirm  the  hypothesis  that  the  Hindus  were 
worshippers  of  one  God  only,  whom  they 
designated  '  the  Breathing  Soul,'  a  Spiritual 
Supreme  Being,  coeval  with  the  formation  of 


148  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

the  world,  everlasting,  permeating  all  space,  the 
beneficent  disposer  of  events." 

Rev.  G.  VANCE   SMITH  :  "  There   are   three 
passages  in  the  New  Testament  in  reference  to 
the  Trinity,  one  of  them,   however,  being  the 
worthless  interpolated  verse  in  the  First  Epistle 
of  John.      Thus  there  are    left   two   passages 
which  are  usually  supposed,  clearly  and  unques- 
tionably to  express  the  doctrine  of  three  Divine 
persons  ;  two  only,  be  it  remembered,  out  of 
the  whole  extent  of  the  Bible.  .  .  .  Throughout 
the  Biblical  writings,  where  is  there  any  trace  of 
a  radical  change  in  the  mode  of  conceiving  of 
the  Oneness  of  God  ?    Where  do  we  find  some 
positive  declaration,  plainly  announcing  the  new 
doctrine  ?     When  and  where  precisely  in  the 
teachings  of  Scripture  is  the  new  idea  of  a  Divine 
plurality,  a  Divine  threeness,  first  distinctly  in- 
troduced as  the  correction  or  completion  of  the 
older  doctrine  ?     Where  is  the  ancient  idea  of 
One'Jehovah  besides  whom  there  is  no  other  God,, 
modified  and  changed  into  a  trinity  of  persons, 
each  of  whom  is  God  as  much  as  either  of  the 
others  ?    Can  any  one  say  : — 'Here  the  doctrine 
of  the  threefold  nature  of  the  Godhead  was  first 
revealed  ? '  &c." 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  149 

EARL  RUSSELL  in  his  "Essays  on  the  History 
of  the  Christian  Religion,"  writes  thus  :  "  The 
first  thing  we  should  wish  to  learn  is  the 
character  assumed  by  Christ  Himself,  and  we 
cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  consistency  of 
this  declaration,  whether  made  to  the  Jews  or 
to  his  faithful  and  intimate  disciples — the  unity  of 
God,  declared  by  Moses,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God, 
thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  but  Me,"  a  doc- 
trine embraced  by  Socrates,  by  Plato,  by  Cicero, 
and  by  the  most  enlightened  of  the  Pagans." 

The  Rev.  H.  HARRIS  remarked  on  this  doctrine: 
•"  Not  once  in  the  pages  of  the  Bible  is  the  word 
Trinity  to  be  found,  and  the  only  passage  which 
speaks  of  three  persons  making  one  is  undoubt- 
edly spurious.  After  many  years  of  doubt  and 
hesitation,  the  good  Dr.  WATTS  became  con- 
vinced of  the  error  of  his  early  faith  and  took 
up  in  its  stead  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God." 
And  again :  "  For  the  first  1 50  years  the  opinions 
of  the  Christians  were  strictly  Unitarian.  From 
that  time  till  the  Council  of  Nicea  in  325,  various 
corruptions  were  added  to  Christianity.  ...  If 
these  then  be  facts,  let  us  be  among  those  who 
hold  fast  to  what  Sir  Isaac  Newton  justly  called 
the  '  long  lost  truth '  of  the  Unity  of  God." 


150  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

The  Trinity,  so  called,  was  never  acknow- 
ledged in  any  manner  whatever  by  our  Society 
(The  Quakers),  the  very  term  even  is  disallowed 
by  our  body,  as  being  nowhere  to  be  found  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  —  Monthly  Repository, 
vol.  8. 

MARTIN  LUTHER  thus  wrote  (Postil  Major, 
fol.  282):  "The  word  Trinity  sounds  oddly  and 
is  a  human  invention.  It  were  better  to  call 
Almighty  God,  God,  than  Trinity." 

Finally  JOHN  CALVIN  (Tract  Theol.  pp.  796) 
says :  "  I  like  not  the  prayer,  O,  holy,  blessed 
glorious  Trinity.  It  savours  of  barbarity.  The 
word  Trinity  is  barbarous,  insipid,  profane,  a 
human  invention,  grounded  on  no  testimony  of 
God's  word." 

With  these  two  particularly  strong  and  all  im- 
portant protests  against  the  Trinity  we  conclude 
this  subject,  although  it  would  be  easy  to  add 
very  many  more  extracts  to  like  effect,  embracing 
the  forcible  argument  that  only  two  verses  in  the 
New  Testament  express  the  doctrine  of  three 
Divine  persons,  viz.  :  Mat.  ch.  28,  v.  xix,  and 
2  Cor.  ch.  13,  v.  iv,  while  not  only  the  Old 
Testament  abounds  in  passages  emphatically 
declaring  the  Unity  of  God,  but  even  in  the 


The  Jezuish  Armoury.  151 


Gospel  itself  are  to  be  found  numerous  texts 
inculcating  that  doctrine,  and  perhaps  none  more 
clearly,  more  explicitly,  than  that  in  Mark 
ch.  17,  v.  xxix.  :  "And  Jesus  answered  (the 
Scribe)  thus  :  '  The  first  of  all  the  Command- 
ments is,  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is 
one  Lord.' ' 

We  will  now  proceed  to  our  second  subject, 
and  give  brief  extracts  from  the  writings  of 
several  eminent  Christians  on  the  beauty  and 
usefulness  of  the  Mosaic  laws. 

PRIESTLY  thus  alludes  to  them  :  "There  are,  it 
is  acknowledged,  several  articles  in  the  institu- 
tions of  Moses  for  which  we  are  not  able  to  assign 
satisfactory  reasons,  but  this  cannot  be  thought 
extraordinary,  considering  that  their  antiquity  is 
so  great,  and  that  they  were  adapted  to  a  state 
of  manners,  opinions,  and  other  circumstances 
of  those  remote  times  with  which  we  are  but 
imperfectly  acquainted.  Neither  are  we  able 
fully  to  satisfy  ourselves  with  respect  to  many 
particulars  in  the  system  of  nature,  which,  not- 
withstanding, we  have  no  doubt  came  from  God. 
And  the  more  attention  we  give  to  both,  the 
more  reason  do  we  discover  for  those  circum- 
stances which  at  first  appeared  the  most  objec- 


152  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"tionable.  The  better  we  understand  them  both, 
the  more  reason  do  we  see  to  admire  them,  and  to 
be  satisfied  that  they  were  ordained  by  a  wisdom 
more  than  human."  Again:  "  The  great  object 
of  the  Hebrew  religion  was  to  preserve  in  the 
world,  the  important  knowledge  of  the  Unity  of 
God  and  of  His  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
the  world  in  opposition  to  the  universally  prevail- 
ing polytheism  and  idolatry."  .  .  "The  ultimate 
aim  of  this  extraordinary  dispensation  was  by 
no  means  the  honour  or  advantage  of  one  par- 
ticular nation,  but  by  their  history  and  discipline 
the  great  universal  Parent  gives  the  most 
important  lessons  to  all  His  offspring  of  mankind. 
By  means  of  this  one  nation,  have  all  other 
nations  that  have  acquired  the  knowledge,  been 
taught  the  great  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  God, 
and  the  purity  of  His  worship.  In  no  case  has 
the  mere  reason  of  man  been  sufficient  for  this 
salutary  purpose.  By  this  means  the  Supreme 
Being  has  preserved  upon  the  minds  of  men  a 
sense  of  their  dependence  on  Himself  and  of 
their  obligation  to  Him  .  .  .  .  of  their  common 
relation  to  one  God  and  Father,  and  thereby  to 
consider  each  other  as  brethren  entitled  to  every 
kind  office  that  they  can  render  to  each  other." 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  153 

PROFESSOR  NEWMAN  says  :  "  From  the  Jews 
the  Christians  derive  nearly  all  that  is  valuable 
in  their  religion." 

I. SAAcD' ISRAELI  thus  wrote:  "The  law  of  Moses 
can  never  fall  into  neglect  while  the  principle  of 
Judaism  acts  on  its  people,  for  it  possesses  a 
self-regenerating  power.  The  Law  is  not  locked 
up  in  a  clasped  volume,  to  be  consulted  only  by 
the  administrators  of  the  Law,  but  it  is  thrown 
open  among  the  people.  It  is  one  of  the 
thoughts  of  Pascal,  to  show  the  distinction 
between  a  false  and  a  true  revelation,  that 
Mahomet,  in  order  that  his  own  code  might 
subsist,  prohibited  its  reading,  but  Moses,  that 
his  own  should  subsist,  ordered  that  all  the  world 
should  read  it." 

LELAXD,  in  his  work,  "  Divine  Authority  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,"  thus  sums  up, 
"  At  the  time  when  the  Law  was  given,  idolatry 
had  made  very  great  progress,  things  were 
growing  worse  and  worse,  and  it  is  highly  pro- 
bable that,  if  God  had  not  extraordinarily  inter- 
posed, true  religion  would  have  been  lost  among 
men.  It  pleased  Him,  therefore,  in  this  state  of 
things,  to  select  a  nation  to  Himself,  among 
whom  the  knowledge  and  the  worship  of  the 


154  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


"true  God  should  be  preserved.  And  to  that 
end  He  first  exerted  his  own  Almighty  power 
and  goodness  in  delivering  that  nation  from  a 
state  of  slavery,  and  then  caused  the  most  pure 
and  excellent  laws  to  be  given  unto  them,  which 
were  promulgated  with  the  greatest  solemnity, 
and  attested  by  the  most  amazing  and  un- 
paralleled miracles.  And  in  order  the  more 
effectively  to  answer  the  main  design  He  had 
in  view,  it  pleased  Him  to  enter  into  a  peculiar 
relation  to  that  people,  and  to  take  them  for 
His  own,  by  a  solemn  public  act  or  covenant. 
And  if  we  enquire  into  the  nature  of 
the  Laws  that  were  given  them,  the  main 
design  seems  evidently  to  be  this,  to  preserve 
them  from  idolatry  and  wickedness,  and  to 
engage  them  in  the  worship  of  the  only  true 
God  and  the  practice  of  righteousness.  They 
are  therein  strictly  commanded  to  worship  and 
serve  the  Lord  God  and  Him  alone,  the  Eternal 
and  self-existant  Jehovah  ;  to  love  Him  with  all 
their  hearts  and  souls,  to  fear  Him  and  to  dread 
His  displeasure  above  all  things,  to  put  their 
whole  trust  and  confidence  in  Him,  to  submit 
themselves  cheerfully  to  His  rightful  authority, 
and  to  obey  all  His  commands.  And  as  the 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  155 

"Law  of  Moses  directs  and  instructs  them  in  the 
duties  they  more  immediately  owe  to  God,  so 
also  in  those  they  owe  to  one  another.  It- 
forbids  in  the  strongest  manner  all  malice,, 
wrath,  and  bitterness  ;  all  injustice,  fraud,, 
violence,  and  oppression ;  all  fornication,, 
adultery,  and  uncleanness  ;  all  falsehood,  guile, 
deceit,  and  even  all  covetousness  ;  it  not  only 
requires  exact  truth  and  fidelity,  a  strict  in- 
violable honesty  in  oiir  dealings  toivards  all  men, 
but  it  expressly  requires  us  to  love  our  neighbours 
as  ourselves ;  to  be  ready  to  do  good  to  one 
another  on  all  occasions,  yea,  even  to  our 
enemies  themselves  ;  to  show  mercy  to  the  poorr 
the  indigent  and  destitute,  strangers,  and 
servants.  These  moral  precepts  are  such,  as  if 
duly  practised  and  obeyed,  could  not  fail  to  make' 
that  nation  happy.  Moses  might,  therefore, 
justly  represent  these  laws  and  statutes  as 
sufficient  to  make  them  '  a  wise  and  under- 
standing people,'  and  exclaim,  '  What  nation  is 
there  so  great,  that  hath  statutes  and  judgments 
so  righteous,  as  the  law  which  I  set  before  you 
this  day  ?' " 

Quoting  again  from   PRIESTLEY'S    Institutes, 
"  An  habitual   regard  to    God    and  a  peaceful 


156  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"trust  in  Him  is  taught  in  the  Bible  as  the  best 
.support  under  the  difficulties  of  life  ;  we  meet 
there  with  feelings  of  hope  and  joy  in  trial,  such 
.as  the  heathens,  from  the  want  of  an  enlightened 
faith  in  God  to  rest  them  on,  could  have  no 
idea  of.  Thus  the  Hebrew  religion  builds  its 
moral  teachings  upon  a  knowledge  of  God's 
character.  It  gives  us  for  our  measure  of 
•excellence,  God's  own  perfection  ;  it  enforces 
our  endeavours  to  do  right  by  the  command  of 
.a  righteous  God  who  loves  righteousness  and 
spurs  us  forward  by  placing  before  us  his 
affection  to  us,  his  encouragement  of  our 
•efforts." 

By  COLLIN  DE  PLANCY  :  "  The  Jewish  religion 
is  a  venerable  mother,  whose  age  is  lost  in  the 
obscurity  of  time.  She  has  given  birth  to  two 
daughters,  the  Christian  religion  and  the 
Mahommetan.  They  glory  in  being  descended 
from  her, — and  desire  nothing  so  much  as  to  see 
her  exterminated.  They  approve  all  she  has 
done  before  being  a  mother,  and  condemn  all 
she  has  done  since,  although  her  conduct  has 
been  always  nearly  the  same  ;  in  a  word,  they 
have  for  her  at  the  same  time,  admiration  and 
horror." 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  157 


We  meet  in  the  writing  of  the  Rev.  H.. 
JOHXSTONE,  the  following  :J'  I^hope  that  some 
day  human  society  may  be  so  far  improved  as- 
to  be  able  to  follow  the  dictates  of  the  Divine- 
given  Jewish  Code.  It  is  a  sad  error  to  suppose 
that  the  Lord,  having  once  thought  the  Jewish 
laws  good,  could  think  them  so  no  longer. 
Taking  into  consideration  the  difference  in  the 
climate  or  in  the  ages,  I  cannot  hesitate  in 
believing  that  wherever  our  civil  laws  disagree 
with  those  that  have  received  the  sanction  of 
God,  we  ougJit  to  count  them  as  imperfect  and 
open  to  amendment.  And  if  our  actual  social 
condition  impedes  all  amendment,  that  condition- 
is  a  deplorable  evil." 

PASCAL:  "The  Jewish  religion  must  assuredly 
be  divine,  considering  whence  it  proceeded,  its 
duration,  its  perpetuity,  its  high  moral,  its 
practicability,  its  doctrines,  and  its  results. 
Again,  the  religion  of  the  Jew  may  seem  to 
draw  its  strength  from  its  founder,  Abraham, 
its  ceremonies,  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  £c.  ; 
but  I  say  that  it  solely  derives  its  vitality  from 
the  love  of  God  /" 

We  conclude  this  portion  of  our  subject  with 
a  brief  extract  from  "  Lectures  in  the  East,"  by 


158  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

DEAN  STANLEY  :  "  There  is  the  humanity  which 
ran  through  the  Law  of  Israel,  and  which 
so  rarely  appears  in  the  ancient  Egyptian 
religion.  The  sons  of  Israel  were,  by  the  very 
recollection  of  their  own  bondage,  entreated  to 
be  kind  to  all  those  in  inferior  condition  to 
themselves.  In  the  version  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments in  Deuteronomy,  this  is  the  reason 
given  for  observing  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath, 
'  That  thy  man-servant  and  thy  maid-servant 
may  rest  as  well  as  thou.'  And  again,  '  It  was 
reserved  for  Moses  to  make  the  high  truth  of 
One  Presiding  Spirit  the  inheritance  of  all 
classes  alike.  That  all  should  know  that  there 
is  One  and  the  same  God  for  all,  .  .  .  and  that 
we  may  have  endless  comfort  in  the  thought  that 
we  are  in  the  hands  of  One  overruling  God, 
who  makes  all  things  work  together  for  the 
best." 

Passing  to  the  3rd  subject ;  The  Christian 
•view  in  regard  to  the  Jewish  people  and  to  their 
characteristics,  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical, 
we  extract  the  following  from  a  speech  delivered 
by  Monsr.  de  TALLEYRAND  : — "  There  can  be  no 
difference  between  the  Jews  and  ourselves  but 
in  the  exercise  of  their  religious  worship  ;  take 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  159 

"that  away,  what  can  we. see  in  them  but  fellow 
citizens  and  brothers  ?  Were  it  otherwise,  it 
would  be  religion  that  gives  civil  and  political 
rights  ;  but  it  is  birth,  domicile  or  property  that 
confers  them.  If  we  reject  the  Israelites  as 
Jews,  we  punish  them  for  being  born  in  one  re- 
ligion rather  than  another  ;  this  is  a  manifest 
infraction  of  all  laws,  human  or  civil." 

BURDER  (On  Religious  Ceremonies) :  "Doubt- 
less important  designs  are  to  be  answered  by 
the  providence  of  God  in  preserving  the  Jews  in 
so  extraordinary  a  manner.  When  we  meet  with 
one  of  the  sons  of  Abraham  (and  in  what  place 
are  they  not  to  be  met  with  ?)  we  see  a  miracle 
— a  living  confirmation  of  the  Divine  veracity — 
a  proof  that  the  Bible  is  true,  and  an  indubitable 
testimony  that  there  is  a  God  who  judgeth  the 
earth." 

Count  de  MIRABEAU  thus  wrote  :  "  Why 
should  not  the  Jews  think  themselves  the 
greatest  of  men,  when,  by  a  miracle  greater  than 
those  of  their  ancient  history,  they  exist  still, 
despite  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  every 
nation  !  Few  can,  even  in  favour  of  great  talent 
and  eminent  virtues,  forgive  to  a  Hebrew  the  sin 
of  being  born  a  Jew,  although  it  is  from  their 


160  The  Jp.zoish  Armoury. 

"Sacred  Book  that  nations  have  borrowed  all 
their  dogmas.  .  .  .  Those  only  who  would 
themselves  permit  fraud  towards  a  Hebrew, 
accuse  him  of  daring  in  virtue  of  his  faith  to 
practise  deception  towards  the  followers  of  other 
religions,  and  the  bigotted  priests  who  have  col- 
lected calumnious  tales  concerning  the  Jews, 
have  only  betrayed  their  own  prejudices." 

The  Rev.  JOHN  MILLS  thus  spoke  at  a  public 
meeting  : — "  We  owe  the  Jews  a  greater  debt 
than  that  of  common  humanity.  We  owe  a 
debt  to  every  nation  which  has  added  to  the  com- 
forts, and  aided  in  the  improvement  of  the 
human  race.  Who  can  reflect,  for  example, 
upon  the  poets,  the  historians,  the  philosophers, 
and  artists  of  ancient  Greece  without  feeling, 
gladly  feeling,  that  futurity  will  ever  be  indebted 
to  them  ?  Well,  how  much  more  to  the  fcics ."' 
They  gave  us  the  Bible,  the  book  of  books, 
which  independent  of  its  inspiration,  is  a  more 
effective  instrument  to  strengthen  the  intellect 
as  well  as  to  improve  the  heart,  than  any  other 
work  the  world  ever  saw.  This  blessed  Book 
was  first  written  and  promulgated  by  the  Jews, 
and  we  sympathize,  deeply  sympathize,  with  the 
children  for  the  Father's  sake." 


The  Jewish  Armoiiry.  161 


From  the  writings  of  the  Rev.  THOS.  RAFFLKS  : 
"  We  are  laid  under  the  deepest  obligation  to 
the  Jews.  There  is  nothing  grand  or  good 
that  we  possess,  but  we  are  indebted  to  that 
people.  The  most  ancient  and  most  authentic 
of  all  historians  was  a  Jew,  and  what  poets,  for 
sublimity  and  grandeur,  can  compare  with  theirs  ? 
But  these  are  minor  considerations  and  matters 
of  trivial  moment  compared  with  those  spiritual 
blessings  for  which  we  are  indebted  instrument- 
ally  to  them.  .  .  .  We  may  not  forget  that  for 
all  the  light  and  religion,  for  all  the  peace  and 
joy,  for  all  the  hopes  and  anticipations  we 
derive  from  the  Bible,  we  owe  to  the  Jews." 

The  Rev.  CHAS.  VOYSEY  has  thus  written  : 
"  I  am  thankful  to  have  gained  an  insight  into 
the  most  venerable  and  most  simple  of  all  creeds. 
My  firm  belief  is  the  Jews  will  never  lose  their 
nationality  in  their  indelible  and  inimitable 
characteristics." 

Extracts  from  Rev.  Father  IGNATIUS'  Dis- 
course :  "  It  might  be  said  the  Jewish  people 
were  an  insignificent  nation,  but  I  assert  it  was 
a  most  important  one.  .  .  .  One  of  the  chief 
characteristics  of  a  nation's  greatness  and  a 
people's  power,  consists  in  a  rightly  balanced 


1 62  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"legislation.  Now,  if  we  compare  the  legislation 
of  Moses  with  that  of  any  other  race  of  people, 
either  of  modern  times  or  times  gone  by,  we  find 
that  it  stands  out  with  a  strange  uniqueness  that 
startles  us.  The  legislation  of  Moses,  thou^Ii  it 
has  existed  for  thousands  and  thousands  of  years, 
has  never  been  added  to,  never  been  abstracted  from, 
never  been  tampered  with,  or  changed  to  suit  the 
continual  changes  of  nations  and  politics.  The 
Jewish  legislation  began  and  ended  in  Moses. 
They  might  say  this  unchangeableness  was  be- 
cause the  people  were  content  to  be  over- 
ridden and  kept  down.  No.  If  ever  there  was 
a  nation  which  possessed  the  determination  to 
exist,  to  be  free,  it  was  the  Jewish  nation. 
Remember  the  battering  rams  of  Titus  and 
Vespasian  against  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  where 
millions  of  Jews  were  ready  to  pour  out  rivers, 
nay,  oceans  of  blood  for  liberty,  which  is  the 
noblest  thing,  which  is  the  thing  God's  spirit 
teaches  us  to  crave  for  above  all  else,  because 
it  is  the  divine  right  of  man.  .  .  .  No,  the 
"Jews  could  not  be  accused  of  being  a  cowardly 
and  slavish  race  ;  we  could  not  so  account  for 
the  unchanged  existence  of  their  legislation  for 
fifteen  centuries,  which  was  a  mighty  monu- 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  163 


"  ment  of  an  Almighty  hand,  a  practical  proof  of 
the  Omnipotence  of  the  voice  which  spoke  in 
thunders  on  Mount  Sinai  and  in  lightning  on 
the  peaks  of  Oreb." 

Australian  Paper:  "What  a  walking  en- 
cyclopaedia and  history  is  the  Jew  !  What  a 
stretch  of  imagination  just  to  think  that  one  of 
the  unknown  throng  of  swart  Israelites,  who 
listened  to  the  song  of  Miriam  on  the  Red  Sea 
triumph,  should  be  the  progenitor  of  a  people 
who  is  intimately  associated  with  the  nineteenth 
century  civilisation,  and  has  become  one  of  the 
principal  factors  of  the  greatness  and  prosperity 
of  unborn  nations  and  communities !  Their 
blood  is  uncontaminated,  their  race  has  a  spot- 
less escutcheon  ;  there  is  no  bar  sinister  in 
his  shield,  for  no  people  have  ever  been  so  correct 
in  their  morals  as  the  Jews,  and  so  careful  not 
to  contract  degenerate  alliances.  No  race 
seems  to  have  possessed  such  a  wonderful 
power  of  recuperation.  Driven  from  their  own 
land,  persecuted  in  every  age,  driven  from 
country  to  country  by  Pagan  and  by  Christian 
hate,  they  have  survived  the  sword,  the  gibbet, 
and  the  stake,  and  are  perhaps  more  numerous 
to-day  than  ever  they  were  in  the  world's 


164  The  Jeivish  Armoury. 


"  history.  A  faithful  and  historic  people  ;  who 
can  but  admire  them  ?" 

The  REV.  J.  M.  WISE,  of  Chicago  thus 
delivers  himself  in  a  lecture — "  Like  lofty 
mountains  crowned  with  azure  tints  and  celestial 
rays,  Israel's  prophets, bards,  kings, heroes,  sages, 
and  saints,  appear  to  the  watching  eye  of  the 
devout  investigator  standing  upon  the  watch- 
tower  of  human  reason.  .  .  .  It  is  with 
reverence  and  awe  only  that  we  can  approach 
the  history  of  Israel,  while  it  is  impossible  to  do 
justice  to  their  vast  and  deep  revelation. 
During  the  first  period,  which  terminates  with  the 
dispersion  among  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians, 
Israel  occupied  the  position  of  a  pupil  under 
the  tuition  of  the  Most  Hio-h.  During 

o  o 

nearly  nine  centuries  it  studied,  and  studied 
well,  the  lessons  of  religion,  ethics,  and  politics, 
and  obtained  in  these  abstract  sciences,  that 
perfection  which  the  Bible  represents.  It  must 
have  exercised  some  influence  on  the  surround- 
ing nations  by  its  army,  wealth,  and  eloquence, 
especially  during  the  reigns  of  David  and 
Solomon.  .  .  .  During  the  second  period, 
which  begins  with  the  first  dispersion,  and  ter- 
minates with  the  last,  under  the  Romans,  Israel 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  165 


"  occupied  the  position  of  the  teachers  among  the 
nations,  and  understood  its  vocation  and  duty, 
its  great  and  sublime  mission.  Historians  have 
hitherto  failed  to  point  out  the  influence  of  the 
sons  of  Israel  upon  the  events  which  then 
revolutionized  the  political  and  religious  institu- 
tions over  the  vast  territory  over  which  they 
were  dispersed,  but  beyond  a  doubt  they  were 
powerful  agents,  mighty  engines  in  the  hands  of 
Providence,  to  effect  and  carry  out  those 
important  revolutions  which  impelled  the 
human  family  onward  to  light  and  right  and 
forward  to  truth  and  justice.  .  .  .  In  the  third 
period  of  its  history,  which  begins  with  the  final 
dispersion  and  is  not  yet  ended,  Israel  occupied 
the  position  of  a  guardian  of  truth,  a  truth 
which  it  had  studied  during  the  first  period  of 
its  history  and  taught  during  the  second — the 
divine  truth  in  and  for  which  it  lived,  struggled 
and  died  a  thousand  deaths,  was  the  only 
treasure  it  saved  from  the  ruins  of  the 
grandeur  which  was  no  more;  but  this,  the  only 
treasure  which  Israel  saved  was  adamantine. 
,  .  .  The  Jew  took  his  Bible  everywhere, 
and  without  his  stiff-neckedness  and  obstinacy, 
that  is,  without  his  firmness,  fortitude,  consis- 


1 66  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"  tency,  and  resolution,  without  his  determination 
to  sacrifice  everything  except  his  belief,  his  con- 
viction, and  the  sacred  heritage  which  God 
entrusted  to  his  care  and  safe  keeping,  it  would 
most  certainly  have  been  lost  to  the  world,  and 
the  dark  ages  must  have  extended  over  many  a 
century  longer,  probably  to  our  very  days." 
SOUTHEY  :  "  When  literature  had  crone  to 

o 

decay  throughout  Christendom,  the  Jews  did 
not  partake  of  the  general  degradation.  They 
had  many  professors,  whose  everlasting  lamps 
were  kept  trimmed  amongst  them,  and  burning 
clearly,  when  the  light  of  the  Gospel  had  grown 
dim  in  the  socket,  and  monkery  and  popedom 
had  well  nigh  extinguished  it." 

MACAULEY  :  "  There  is  nothing  in  the  national 
character  of  the  Jew  which  unfits  him  for  the 
highest  duties  of  citizens.  In  the  infancy  of 
civilisation,  when  our  island  was  as  savage  as 
New  Guinea,  when  letters  and  arts  were  still 
unknown  to  Athens,  this  condemned  people  had 
their  splendid  Temple,  their  fleet  of  merchant 
ships,  their  schools  of  sacred  learning,  their 
great  statesmen  and  soldiers,  their  philosophers, 
historians  and  poets.  What  nation  ever  con- 
tested more  manfully  against  overwhelming 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  167 


"odds  for  its  independence  and  religion  ?  What 
nation  ever,  in  its  last  agonies,  gave  such  signal 
proofs  of  what  might  be  accomplished  by  a 
brave  despair  ?  Let  none  presume  to  say  there 
is  no  genius  among  the  countrymen  of  Isaiah, 
no  heroism  amoncf  the  descendants  of  the 

o 

Maccabees,  while  it  is  the  Jewish  religion 
which  first  taught  the  human  race  the  great 
lesson  of  universal  charity." 

G.  C.  LEWES  (in  his  "History  of  Philosophy") : 
"  The  part  played  by  the  Jews  as  physicians, 
merchants,  or  bankers,  has  often  been  appre- 
ciated. The  part  played  by  them  as  thinkers  has 
been  less  frequently  mentioned,  yet  it  has  been 
considerable.  Ignored  by  society,  the  learned 
Jews  gave  themselves  up  to  science  and  to  study. 
Hated  and  persecuted  though  they  were,  their 
ability  and  perseverance  made  them  everywhere 
necessary  to  princes  and  to  nobles.  .  .  .  The 
learned  unsuspectingly  submitted  their  minds  to 
Hebrew  thinkers.  The  facility  with  which  they 
mastered  language  made  them  ready  interpreters 
between  Musselmen  and  Christians.  It  was 
through  their  translators  and  through  their 
original  thinkers  that  the  West  became  leavened 
with  Greek  and  Oriental  thought." 


1 68  TJie  Jewish  Armoury. 

BASIL  MONTAGU  :  "  Of  the  acuteness  of  the 
Jewish  intellect  it  cannot  be  necessary  to  adduce 
proof.  It  appears  in  their  daily  intercourse 
with  us  and  with  each  other.  Of  their  affections, 
who  can  doubt  ?  The  Englishman's  fireside  is 
proverbial  for  domestic  happiness,  but  of  all 
firesides,  the  Jews',  as  far  as  relates  to  their 
affections,  is  the  most  abundant  in  good  feeling, 
from  the  most  opulent  to  the  most  indigent. 
Next,  as  to  their  orderly  conduct  as  members 
of  society,  they  are  regular  and  industrious  in 
their  habits,  cultivating  those  branches  of  trade 
committed  to  them,  and  increasing  the  pros- 
perity of  their  country  by  enlarging  its  com- 
merce. They  have  ever  been  loyal  subjects 
and  anxious  to  assist  their  country,  cheerfully 
pouring  out  their  hoards  when  the  State  re- 
quired it,  while  one  and  all,  when  the  occasion 
arose,  enlisted,  and  would  have  proved  them- 
selves descendants  of  the  noble  Maccabees." 

Edinburgh  Review :  "  The  Jews  have  been 
thickly  planted  in  the  chief  rising  seats  of 
civilization  and  commerce,  and  in  almost  every 
well-known  city,  we  hear  of  Hebrew  settle- 
ments more  or  less  considerable  in  number. 
Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say,  that  the  influence  of 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  169 


"  these  widely  dispersed  Jews  must  have  been 
everywhere  felt.  In  the  case  of  the  Jew  alone 
was  religion  bound  to  a  law  of  moral  purity. 
The  Jew  only  had  a  conscience  in  the  better 
and  hio-her  sense." 

O 

FLEURY  :  "  The  people  God  chose  for  the 
purpose  of  preserving  the  true  religion,  form 
an  admirable  model,  whether  it  be  in  their 
manners,  their  mode  of  living,  their  industry, 
their  urbanity.  ...  If  wre  compare  the 
Israelites  of  old  with  the  Romans,  the  Greeks, 
the  Egyptians,  and  the  other  ancient  people 
most  esteemed,  our  prejudices  against  them 
vanish  away.  We  find  in  them  a  noble  sim- 
plicity, and  while  they  had  all  the  good  qualities 
of  other  nations,  they  were  exempt  in  a  great 
measure  from  their  defects,  for  they  based  their 
conduct  on  the  true  religion  which  is  the  foun- 
dation of  all  morality." 

Chamber  s  Cyclopedia  :  "  To  enumerate  names 
of  those  who  were  and  are  illustrious  in  general 
literature,  in  law,  philosophy,  medicine,  philo- 
logy, mathematics,  and  belles  lettres,  we  cannot 
even  attempt,  since  there  is  not  one  country  in 
Europe  which  does  not  number  Jews  among 
the  foremost  and  most  brilliant  representatives 


i/o  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

"  of  its  intellectual  progress.  Of  Germany- 
considered  to  be  in  the  vanguard  of  European 
learning — the  greater  part  of  the  professors  at 
its  universities  are  Jews  or  of  Jewish  origin: 
certainly  a  most  startling  fact.  Another  extra- 
ordinary fact  is  that  the  European  press,  no  less 
than  the  European  finance,  which  means  the 
freest  developments  of  all  the  resources  of  soil 
and  science  for  the  gigantic  enterprises  of  our 
day,  are  to  a  great  extent  in  their  power,  while 
numerous  are  the  names  of  those  who  shine  in 
all  branches  of  art,  music,  sculpture,  painting, 
the  drama,  &c.,  all  proving  how  unjust  is  the 
reproach  of  their  being  an  "  abstract "  people. 
Briefly — they  are,  by  the  unanimous  verdict 
of  the  historians  and  the  philosophers  of  our 
times,  reckoned  among  the  chief  promoters  of 
the  development  of  humanity  and  civilization. 
And  what  has  been  their  reward  ?  . 
If  there  be  a  gradation  in  suffering,  Israel  has 
reached  the  highest  acme  ;  if  the  long  duration 
of  sufferings  and  the  patience  with  which  they 
are  borne,  ennobles,  the  Jews  defy  the  high  born 
of  all  countries  ;  if  a  literature  is  called  rich 
which  contains  a  few  classical  dramas,  what 
must  be  said  of  that  tragedy  which  lasted 


The  Jewish  Armoury,  171 


"a  millennial  and  a  half,  and  was  composed  and 
enacted  by  the  heroes  themselves  ?" 

JOHN  LOCKE  :  "If  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  from  whom  the  Jewish  nation  had  their 
originals,  were  holy,  the  branches  also  that 
spring  from  this  root  are  holy,  and  if  those 
were  taken  in  and  engrafted,  and  have  partaken 
of  the  blessings  promised  to  Abraham  and  his 
seed,  be  not  so  conceited  of  thyself  as  to  show 
any  disrespect  to  the  Jews.  If  any  such  vanity 
possess  thee,  remember  that  the  privilege  which 
thou  hast  in  being  a  Christian  is  derived  to  thec 
from  the  promise  which  was  made  to  Abraham 
and  his  seed,  but  not  that  accrues  to  Abraham 
and  his  seed  from  thec'' 

Edinburgh  Review :  "  A  singular  testimony 
to  the  worth  of  the  Jews  as  citizens,  was- 
recorded  in  the  Court  of  Justice  at  Nismes,  to 
the  effect,  that  for  ten  years  no  one  Jew  had 
ever  appeared  before  that  Court  for  either  a 
misdemeanour  or  a  crime,  and  that  as  to  the 
accusation  of  usury,  so  freely  brought  against 
them,  only  two  Jews  were  prosecuted  for  this- 
offence  in  the  whole  of  the  South  of  France,, 
when  a  thousand  Frenchmen  had  been  cited 
and  punished  as  usurers,  and  even  the  criminal 


The  Jeivish  Armoury. 


•*'  tables  here  in  England  show  a  smaller  propor- 
tion of  Jews  brought  to  justice  than  of  most 
Christian  denominations."  And  again,  "In  all 
countries  the  Jews  have  advanced  the  arts  of 
peace  and  affronted  the  national  vanities  by  the 
success  of  their  undertakings.  Their  perse- 
vering labour,  when  converted  into  money,  has 
given  them  a  superiority  which  has  at  once 
roused  the  envy  and  the  cupidity  of  the  natives, 
so  that  their  sufferings  have  been  in  proportion 
to  their  social  excellence.  It  is  impossible  to 
•say  how  much  the  active  habits  of  English 
trade  owe  to  the  example  and  competition  of 
.this  people  since  they  have  been  allowed  to 
settle  freely  amongst  us." 

JUDGE  MELLOR  (1873),  summing  up  a  case 
.of  offence  which,  as  he  said,  was  calculated 
to  excite  the  prejudice  and  violence  of  the 
ignorant,  thus  addressed  the  Jury—"  No  man 
need  be  ashamed  of  being  a  Jew,  but  under 
some  circumstances  (as  in  the  present  instance) 
the  name  was  used  as  a  word  of  reproach.  A 
Jew  had  a  lineage  to  be  proud  of,  if  anybody 
had,  and  the  Jews,  of  all  persons  in  the  world, 
had,  in  point  of  race,  influenced  the  destinies 
•of  mankind  more  than  any  other  race.  But 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  173- 

"  independently  of  Scriptural  knowledge,  every 
one  should  think  that  there  was  no  impeach- 
ment of  reproach  in  the  name  of  Jew." 

In  the  same  year,  thus  spoke  at  a  public 
meeting  the  EARL  OF  SHAFTESBURY  :  "  I 
have  come  most  gladly  to  pronounce  openly 
what  I  have  ever  felt  in  secret,  that  is,  my 
profound  veneration  and  love  for  the  whole 
mass  of  the  Jewish  people.  .  .  .  They  are 
the  remnants  of  an  ancient  nation  of  great  note 
and  fame,  who  occupied  a  most  distinguished 
position  in  the  pages  of  the  world's  history,  and 
whose  glories  have  never  been  surpassed. 
They  are  remarkable  for  their  industry,  their 
truth,  and  their  submission  to  all  the  principles 
of  just  government,  in  whatever  country  they 
may  be  placed.  They  are  not  behind  in  any- 
quality  that  dignifies  and  adorns  men  and 
women  in  any  walk  of  life,  and  we  should  all 
have  a  deep  interest  in  the  millions  of  Jewish 
people  who  are  making  their  way  in  every  part 
of  the  world." 

"With  this  high  encomium  from  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  statesmen  of  the  day,  we 
may  conclude  these  extracts — which  have  been 
gleaned  exclusively  from  Christian  sources — 


i/4  The  Jewish  Armoury. 


glad  in  the  thought  that  so  many  men  of 
enlightenment,  discerning  excellent  qualities 
in  the  Jewish  people — qualities  which  are 
.assuredly  the  fruits  of  a  strict  adherence  to  their 
sublime  laws — have  cast  aside  all  prejudice  and 
generously  avowed  their  recognition  of  those 
virtues. 


It  would  be  altogether  superfluous  to  enter  on 
the  subject  of  the  Unity  of  God  under  a 
Jewish  point  of  view,  as  it  has  had  our  attention 
in  the  first  chapter  of  this  work,  while  also  the 
second  subject  has  been  treated  on  at  some 
length  in  the  4th  chapter,  thence  we  proceed 
at  once  to  give  some  few  extracts  from  Jewish 
Authors  in  regard  to  the  last,  and  these  may  be 
brief,  since  they  could  contain  little  else  than  a 
repetition  of  those  facts  which  have  received 
their  due  acknowledgment  from  the  many 
eminent  Christians  whose  remarks  and  opinions 
we  have  quoted  in  the  preceeding  pages. 

Now  the  Jews  having  been  frequently  accused 
of  lukewarmness  in  religion  at  about  the  time 
of  Jesus  Christ,  it  may  be  well  to  hear  what  the 
able  Historian  Joscphus  says  on  this  score,  for 
we  may  thus  be  enabled  to  refute  so  unjustifi- 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  175 

able  a  charge ;  we  read,  "  And  there  came 
many  ten  thousands  of  the  Jews  to  Petronius 
to  offer  their  petitions  to  him,  that  he  would  not 
compel  them  to  transgress  and  violate  the  law 
of  their  forefathers  ;  but  if,  said  they,  '  thou  art 
entirely  resolved  to  bring  this  statue  and 
erect  it,  do  thou  first  kill  us,  for  while 
we  are  alive,  we  cannot  permit  such  tilings  as 
are  forbidden  us  to  be  done  by  our  Legislator' 
Then  on  Petronius  angrily  rejecting  their  peti- 
tion, they  said,  '  Since,  therefore,  thou  art  so 
disposed,  O  Petronius  !  that  thou  wilt  not 
disobey  Caius'  epistles,  neither  will  we  trans- 
gress the  commands  of  our  laws,  and  as  we  depend 
upon  the  excellency  of  our  laws,  and  by  the 
labours  of  our  ancestors  have  continued  hitherto 
without  suffering  them  to  be  transgressed,  we 
dare  not  by  any  means  permit  ourselves  to  be 
so  timorous  as  to  transgress  those  laws  out  of  the 
fear  of  death.  .  .  .  we  should  incur  the  great 
anger  of  God,  who,  even  thyself  being  judge, 
is  superior  to  Caius.'  .  .  .  '  Then  Petronius 
said  to  them,  '  Will  you  then  make  war  with 
Caesar  without  considering  his  great  prepara- 
tions for  war  and  your  own  weakness  ?'  They 
replied,  '  We  will  not  make  war  with  him,  bid 


1/6  77ic  Jewish  Armoury. 

still  we  will  die  before  we  sec  our  laws  trans- 
gressed' So  they  threw  themselves  down  on  their 
faces  and  stretched  out  their  throats  and  said  they 
were  ready  to  be  slain,  and  this  they  did  for  forty 
days  together,  and  in  the  meantime  left  off  the 
tilling  of  their  ground,  and  that,  while  the  season 
of  the  year  required  them  to  sow  it.  Thus 
they  continued  firm  in  their  resolution,  and  pro- 
posed to  themselves  to  die  willingly  rather  than  to 
see  the  dedication  of  the  statue."  Lukewarmness 
to  their  religion  indeed  !  Where  in  the  annals 
of  history  do  we  read  of  any  people  showing 
such  unflinching  courage,  such  determination 
to  resist  oppression,  such  fidelity  to  their  faith 
and  their  God  ?  And,  again,  when  Caesar 
ordered  that  a  statue  should  be  placed  in  the 
Temple  they  insisted  on  the  observance  of  their 
laws  and  said,  '  We  offer  sacrifice  twice  every 
day  for  Caesar  and  for  the  Roman  people,  but 
if  he  wrould  place  the  images  among  them, 
he  must  first  sacrifice  the  whole  Jewish 
nation,  and  that  they  were  ready  to  expose 
themselves,  together  with  their  children  and 
wives,  to  be  slain.  At  this  Petronius  was 
astonished,  and  pitied  them  on  account  of  the 
inexpressible  sense  of  religion  the  men  were 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  177 

under  and,  that  courage  of  theirs  which 
made  them  ready  -to  "die  for  it,  so  they  were 
dismissed." 

Hebrew  Review  (1831)  /  "  The  Jewish  people 
may  fearlessly  offer  themselves  to  the  strictest 
scrutiny  of  their  fellow-men,  and  may  feel  confi- 
dent of  coming  out  of  it  with  honour.  They  have 
ever  shown  the  qualities  of  mercy  and  humanity, 
and  these  are  the  basis  on  which  a  large  propor- 
tion of  their  virtues  are  built.  They  certainly 
preserve  them  from  the  commission  of  many 
dreadful  crimes  and  cause  them  to  practice 
many  of  those  virtues  which  God  has 
commanded  them,  and  on  which  the  sustaining 
of  the  social  system  so  much  depends.  It  is 
well  known  that  they  make  the  best  husbands 
and  wives.  Domestic  discord  is  scarcely  known 
amonof  them.  Their  affection  and  tenderness 

O 

towards  their  offspring  is  proverbial.  Sobriety 
is  so  general  among  them,  that  it  is  rare  to  see 
a  Jew  in  the  shameful  state  of  inebriation.  A 
Jew  homicide  is  so  rare  that  we  almost  doubt  if 
a  single  instance  can  be  adduced  of  one  in  this 
country  for  nearly  an  entire  century,  and  that 
it  is  equally  so  in  all  countries  where 
they  dwell,  we  believe  we  may  assert  with 

N 


178  The  Jewish  Armoury. 

truth.  And  be  it  said,  the  above  remarks 
apply  equally  to  the  humble  as  to  the  wealthy 
class." 

On  many  scores  we  think  it  well  not  to  quote 
any  Jewish  writer  on  the  subject  of  the  character 
of  the  Hebrew  people  at  the  present  day  ;  this 
indeed,  speaks  plainly  for  itself  far  more  plainly 
than  any  words,  in  their  home,  in  their  in- 
stitutions, in  the  busy  mart,  and  in  the  Temple 
of  Worship,  but  we  may,  in  conclusion,  give 
one  extract  from  a  foreign  source  ;  it  is  from 
Judge  NoaJis  address  to  his  Christian  country- 
men of  New  York,  and  speaks  volumes  for  the 
moral  character  of  our  transatlantic  brethren.  He 
said  :  "  Dismiss  from  your  hearts  all  prejudice 
which  still  lurks  there  against  our  people. 
They  are  worthy  of  your  love,  your  confidence 
and  respect,  and  that  feeling  simply  arises  from 
your  early  education.  Dismiss  it  then  ;  be 
better  acquainted  with  the  Jew  and  learn  to 
estimate  his  virtues.  See  him  in  the  bosom  of 
his  family,  the  best  of  fathers,  and  the  truest 
of  friends.  See  children,  dutiful,  affectionate, 
and  devotedly  attached,  supporting  their  parents 
with  pride  and  exultation.  See  wives  the  most 
faithful,  mothers  the  most  devoted.  Go  with 


The  Jewish  Armoury.  1.79 

me  into  the  haunts  of  misery,  where  the 
daughters  of  misfortune  walk  the  streets  of  this 
great  city,  and  see  if  among  them  all  you  find 
one  Jewess.  Come  with  me  to  the  prisons 
where  crime,  riots,  and  vice  abounds,  and 
examine  whether  a  Jew  is  the  tenant  of  a 
dungeon.  Go  into  your  almshouses,  and  ascer- 
tain how  many  Jews  are  recipients  of  your 
bounty.  See  them  all,  the  friends  of  virtue  and 
of  temperance,  obedient  to  the  laws,  and 
devoted  to  the  country  that  protects  them. 
Are  we  not,  then,  worthy  of  your  confidence 
and  esteem,  discharging,  as  we  do,  every  moral 
obligation  imposed  upon  us  ?  " 


• 


